Note: Post edited to include post-event workshop videos. Watch both workshop videos here and here.

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Advance World Class Science, Deliver Real World Solutions, Provide Opportunity for All. 

These comprise the themes of our bold 5-year Strategic Plan. Since its launch less than two months ago, we have hit the ground running. Under the second and third strategic themes, we have already received ICOC approval for 2 concepts: Alpha Clinics Network Expansion and COMPASS educational program. We are now working on the execution of our first theme.  

As indicated in our Strategic Plan, we strongly believe advancing world class science relies on collaborative research that leverages collective scientific knowledge. To that end, we have organized the virtual CIRM CNS Consortium Workshop (click for the agenda and see registration details below) to help us gather feedback from a panel of experts about the best approach for promoting a culture of collaboration.

The vision for this workshop was informed by multiple layers of stakeholder discussions and input that started even prior to the passage of Proposition 14. A quick walk down memory lane reminds us of CIRM’s early and deliberate effort to identify areas of opportunity for promoting a paradigm shift with a “team science” approach, especially in the context of complex diseases such as those affecting the CNS: 

• In 2019, we organized Brainstorming Neurodegeneration, a workshop where broad stakeholder input was received about the benefits and bottlenecks of developing a consortium approach where genomics and big data, novel stem cell models, and patient data could be collectively leveraged to advance the field of neurodegenerative research in a collaborative manner.  
  
• In 2020, just before the passage of Prop 14 and based on input from the 2019 workshop, we already had our eyes on target: the future of collaborative research is in sharable data, and sharing petabytes or more of data requires a collaborative data infrastructure. To better understand the status and bottlenecks of knowledge platforms that could leverage data sharing, we brought together a panel of experts at our 2020 Grantee Meeting. We were encouraged to learn that our laser-focused approach for promoting knowledge sharing was right on target and the panelists suggested that CIRM has a great opportunity to promote a paradigm shift in this area.   
  
• In early 2021, immediately after the passage of Prop 14 and building upon our previous conversations, we formed a Strategic Scientific Advisory Panel comprising a distinguished group of national and international scientists in the stem cell field. Once again, we were advised to expand sharable resources (especially in the context of stem cell modeling), bring more attention to complex diseases such as neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders, and facilitate knowledge sharing.  
  
• In mid 2021, as we were forming our Strategic Plan based on the above input, we pressure-tested our paradigm-shifting vision in a Town Hall and further gathered feedback from California stakeholders about their needs. Again, all arrows pointed to shared resources and data as critical elements for accelerating research.  

• Finally, in late 2021, just before the launch of our Strategic Plan, we organized a Data Biosphere Advisory Committee to advise us on ways to facilitate collaborative knowledge sharing. Here, we explored various models for leveraging and/or generating a data infrastructure in which CIRM-funded data could be managed and shared. The main outcome of this meeting was a recommendation to organize a workshop to test the feasibility and approach for generation of a CIRM knowledge platform. The Committee concluded that CIRM is uniquely positioned to contribute a wealth of data to the broader scientific community. A knowledge platform would provide an avenue for data sharing and collaboration with other groups that are dedicated to accelerating progress in the development of therapies, especially for CNS disorders.  

We were walking on solid ground! In December of 2021, paralleling the input we had received from experts and stakeholders, we launched our 5-year Strategic Plan with the goal of advancing world class science by promoting a culture of collaboration. 

To deliver on this goal, CIRM’s approach is to build the infrastructure (and we don’t mean bricks and mortar) that organizes and democratizes data through:  

1. A network of shared resources labs that facilitate validation and standardization to support California regenerative medicine researchers  

2. A data infrastructure where CIRM-funded data can be shared and external datasets leveraged to maximize real-world impact  

3. We have held a virtual CNS Consortium Workshop on February 24th and 25^th where we explored the development of these two resources through the deployment of a consortium and starting in the CNS space as a use case. While the discussions at the workshop centered on the CNS, the shared resources labs will be implemented across cell types and organs. The Data Infrastructure is intended to be a global resource for data sharing and fostering a culture of open science for all CIRM grantees—and the world. The complete workshop agenda can be found here.  
   
   Watch video recordings of Day 1 and Day 2 of the CNS workshop.