BIO 2008: Vic-Cal stem cells

The Victorian Government has signed an historic agreement with the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to collaborate on stem cell research.

The CIRM was established in 2005 following the passage of Proposition 71, the Californian stem cell research and cures act, which provided $3 billion in funding for stem cell research in the state of California.

The institute administers that funding on behalf of Californian universities and medical research centres and is led by Australian IVF pioneer, Professor Alan Trounson.

The MOU was signed by Victorian Premier John Brumby and Minister for Innovation Gavin Jennings, along with Trounson and Robert Klein, chair of the governing board of the CIRM, at the BIO 2008 convention in San Diego today.

Brumby said the memorandum of understanding was the first between California and another country.

"It will mean more success in terms of scientific and medical advancements, skills development for researchers, access to research infrastructure and institutions in California," Brumby said.

"It's going to mean increased participation in international networks [and] better marketing of Victorian biotech capabilities.

"In a sense many of the things we do in this space are about buildings and infrastructure, but this is about ... enjoining the intellectual capital - linking up the best people that we've got in Melbourne and the best people in California."

Trounson said the collaboration was going to be particularly meaningful.

"What we are particularly interested in is that the linkage ... will produce outcomes that are larger than us working independently," he said.

"It is very clear that Melbourne is dominant in the Australian landscape in medicine, stem cells and in biotechnology, and likewise California has that same dominance in the US.

"This will be quite a dramatic development in the world of stem cells."

Trounson paid particular tribute to his fellow stem cell researchers such as Professor Peter Rathjen, dean of science at the University of Melbourne; Professor Richard Boyd, the well-known thymic immunology researcher from Monash University; and Professor Nadia Rosenthal, head of the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Monash, all of whom were in attendance.