La Jolla-based Salk Institute names president to committee

The president of the La Jolla-based Salk Institute for Biological Studies was Thursday named to the citizen’s oversight committee of the state of California’s stem cell research organization.

Dr. William Brody was appointed by Lt. Gov. John Garamendi to the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

Before joining the Salk Institute this past March, Brody was the president of Johns Hopkins University for 12 years.

“Dr. Brody is an accomplished scientist, widely recognized among his peers as one of the nation’s forefront thinkers in biomedical engineering and healthcare policy,’’ said Garamendi, who gets to make five appointments to the committee.

CIRM was created as part of Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, which was approved by voters in 2004. Since then, the 29-member oversight committee has approved 295 grants worth $761 million, making CIRM the largest source of stem cell research funding in the world.

Brody will replace Dr. Marsha Chandler, also of the Salk Institute.