Dr. Vito Imbasciani was sworn in as the new Chair of the CIRM Board at its March meeting. He was elected to a six‑year term at the January meeting and succeeds Jonathan Thomas, who has served since 2011.
“My experience has positioned me to champion CIRM’s aims, advocate for it, and represent it responsibly to the public and elected officials,” Imbasciani said. “I look forward to advancing the Agency’s groundbreaking work and supporting the hopes of Californians.”
Imbasciani has served as Secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs since 2015. In that role, he unified the state’s eight veteran homes, created programs for veterans in state prisons, and strengthened support for county veteran service offices.
Art Torres & Jonathan Thomas
CIRM also bid farewell to Sen. Art Torres (ret.) and Jonathan Thomas (JT) for their service on the Board.
JT was elected Board Chair in 2011 after nomination by Governor Jerry Brown, Treasurer Bill Lockyer, and Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom.
He served as Chair for more than 12 years. During that time, he led CIRM in awarding $2.5 billion to support groundbreaking research and accelerate stem cell treatments for patients with unmet medical needs.
He led the agency as it expanded industry partnerships, revamped award processes, prepared for bond funding to expire, supported the drafting of Proposition 14, and planned the next phase of CIRM’s programs after voters approved $5.5 billion in new funding.
Senator Art Torres was nominated as CIRM Vice Chair in 2009 by Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom and Treasurer Bill Lockyer and was elected shortly after by the Governing Board.
He served on the Grants and Standards working groups and was the inaugural Chair of the Accessibility and Affordability Working Group. He also served on several subcommittees, led CIRM’s government relations efforts, and played a key role in launching CIRM’s SPARK high school internship program.
CIRM expresses its deep gratitude to Senator Torres and JT for their service on the Governing Board and for their dedication to advancing stem cell research. Their leadership helped drive CIRM’s mission to accelerate world‑class science and deliver transformative regenerative medicine treatments equitably to a diverse California and the world.
Naturally everyone welcomes the new folks–Hi, Dr. Imbasaciani!– but to lose JT and Senator Torres? That is a blow. Each man was 1,000% committed to battling diseases, asssisting CIRM to use its great strengh in the most effecive way. JT’s personal warmth made progress seem logical, inevitable, theright thing to do–tireless, he made things happen. And Senator Torres? Not only did his encyclopedic collection of Sacramento contacts prove valuable in hundreds of ways, but his endurance in always following up made him irreplaceable. Yet now he too is “termed out” and must depart from the scene of action. We in the patient advocate community have watched you both accomplish great things. We cannot thank you enough. As Ronald Reagan said, “May God hold you in the hollow of his hand!” You will be missed, but never forgotten.