Amended in Senate April 22, 2014

Senate Bill No. 836

Introduced by Senator Corbett

January 6, 2014

An act begin delete relating to health. end delete begin insert to add Chapter 15 (commencing with Section 92985) to Part 57 of Division 9 of Title 3 of the Education Code, relating to brain research. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 836, as amended, Corbett. Brain research: begin delete funding program. end delete begin insert Cal-BRAIN program. end insert

Existing law establishes various health research grant programs, including the Cancer Research Program, the Breast Cancer Research Program, and the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program.

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This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would provide funding for the purpose of establishing and operating a California-based research funding program to complement a specified national brain research program.

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This bill, the California Blueprint for Research to Advance Innovations in Neuroscience (Cal-BRAIN) Act of 2014, would provide that the Regents of the University of California may establish the Cal-BRAIN program to leverage California’s research assets and the federal BRAIN Initiative’s funding opportunities to accelerate the development of brain mapping techniques, including the development of new technologies, in order to achieve certain goals. The bill would additionally request the University of California to administer the Cal-BRAIN program consistent with specified objectives and to provide information about the program through an Internet Web site.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert begin insert

The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of
the following:

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(a) In April 2013, President Obama unveiled the Brain Research
through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN)
Initiative -- a collaborative program that will map the activity of
every neuron in the human brain with a programmed total
investment of more than $300 million per year over 10 years.

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(b) The BRAIN Initiative is launching with approximately $110
million in funding for research in 2014, as well as additional
private sector investment from institutes and foundations based
in California.

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(c) California is poised to be a world leader in this research
effort given the prominent role of scientists and industry leaders
throughout the state.

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(d) Four of the six scientists who proposed the BRAIN Initiative
and six of the 15 members of the Advisory Committee to the
Director of the National Institutes of Health for the BRAIN
Initiative are from California.

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(e) Some California-based corporations have indicated they
are interested in collaborating with brain research institutions on
research for the BRAIN Initiative to bring new discoveries to the
marketplace.

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(f) The BRAIN Initiative has the potential to be a major driver
of new industries and jobs in biotechnology, artificial intelligence,
and information technologies, as well as a catalyst for major
breakthroughs in brain-related diseases, injuries, and illnesses,
including Alzheimer’s disease, which is programmed to cost
California over $30 billion a year by 2030.

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(g) The products of scientific research improve the quality of
our lives and health and provide us with high-quality jobs that
employ and demand a highly skilled workforce.

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(h) Given California’s assets and capacity for collaboration,
entrepreneurship, and innovation, a state investment to expand
and accelerate this research in the state and to promote the
translation of breakthroughs into the marketplace is an important
investment in the intellectual infrastructure for California’s
economic future.

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Chapter 15 (commencing with Section 92985) is added
to Part 57 of Division 9 of Title 3 of the end insert begin insert Education Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

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Chapter   begin insert 15. end insert The California Blueprint for Research to
Advance Innovations in Neuroscience Act of 2014

 

begin insert 92985. end insert   

This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
California Blueprint for Research to Advance Innovations in
Neuroscience (Cal-BRAIN) Act of 2014.

begin insert 92986. end insert   

(a) The Regents of the University of California may
establish the Cal-BRAIN program to leverage California’s vast
research assets and the federal BRAIN Initiative’s funding
opportunities to accelerate the development of brain mapping
techniques, including the development of new technologies, which
will create new, high-paying jobs in California while advancing
patient care and improving lives, in order to achieve the following
goals:

(1) Maintain California’s leadership role in neuroscience
innovation.

(2) Develop a dynamic map of the human brain that provides
researchers, physicians, and engineers with the knowledge
necessary to develop new treatments and technologies that will
improve lives and reduce the costs of providing health care.

(3) Grow California’s economy through the expansion of
California’s high technology and biotechnology sectors.

(4) Train the next generation of scientists for the neuroscience
and engineering jobs of the future.

(b) The University of California is requested to utilize
California’s unique collaborative research environment by
administering the Cal-BRAIN program consistent with all of the
following:

(1) Convening stakeholders from public and private research
institutions, biotechnology and high technology companies, and
venture capital firms to develop the governing structure of the
Cal-BRAIN program.

(2) Adopting a research plan that identifies milestones for
achieving the goals of the Cal-BRAIN program.

(3) Establishing competitive, merit-based opportunities for
interested public and private California research institutions to
apply for Cal-BRAIN program funding.

(4) Maintaining the flexibility to adjust the Cal-BRAIN
program’s priorities and focus based upon knowledge gained from
scientific discoveries.

(5) Establishing a technology transfer program to identify and
accelerate the commercial application of both early and late-stage
discoveries and technologies from the Cal-BRAIN program into
the marketplace and to promote new and expanded technology
sectors in the state.

(6) Soliciting contributions to the Cal-BRAIN program with a
goal of achieving a nonstate funding match that meets or exceeds
the financial investment by the state.

begin insert 92987. end insert   

The Regents of the University of California are
requested to provide information about the Cal-BRAIN program
through an Internet Web site, including a brief description of
funded projects and activities.

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SECTION 1.  

(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares
all of the following:

(1) In April 2013, the Obama Administration unveiled the Brain
Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies
(BRAIN) Initiative -- a collaborative project that will map the
activity of every neuron in the human brain with a projected total
investment of more than $300 million per year over 10 years.

(2) The BRAIN Initiative is launching with approximately $110
million in funding for research in 2014, as well as additional private
sector investment from institutes and foundations based in
California.

(3) California is poised to be a world leader in this research
effort given the prominent role of scientists and industry leaders
throughout the state.

(4) Four of the six scientists who proposed the BRAIN Initiative
and six of the 15 members of the Advisory Committee to the
Director of the National Institutes of Health for the BRAIN
Initiative are from California.

(5) Some California-based corporations have indicated they are
interested in collaborating with brain research institutions on
research for the BRAIN Initiative to bring new discoveries to the
marketplace.

(6) The BRAIN Initiative has the potential to be a major driver
of new industries and jobs in biotechnology, artificial intelligence,
and information technologies, as well as a catalyst for major
breakthroughs in brain-related diseases, injuries, and illnesses,
including Alzheimer’s, which is projected to cost California over
$30 billion a year by 2030.

(7) The products of scientific research improve the quality of
our lives and health and provide us with high-quality jobs that
employ and demand a highly skilled workforce.

(8) Achievements from investments in research have increased
life expectancy by more than 50 percent, decreased death rates
from heart disease, stroke, tuberculosis, and HIV, created the
transistor, the laser, the accelerator, and the personal computer,
explored space, invented new materials like Kevlar and Teflon,
given rise to the Internet, and led to the growth and dominance of
the United States economy.

(9) A 2013 American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology study on Nondefense Discretionary Science found that
the research of United States laboratories commercialized by
United States companies led to a drop in the yearly cancer mortality
rate that saves the United States $500 billion per year in health
care costs and that the information technology sector, built largely
on discoveries by federally funded scientists, contributes nearly
$1 trillion per year on the United States gross domestic product.

(10) According to the 2011 Battelle Memorial Institute study,
a recent major research initiative, the Human Genome Project,
returned $141 to the United States economy for every dollar
invested.

(11) The 2009 National Bureau of Economic Research study
on the broader economic impacts of research and development
showed a $2.50 to $3 return for every dollar invested.

(12) Strategic investments by the state can also assist in the
development of technology clusters including the biotechnology
ecosystems of the San Francisco Bay area and the San Diego
region. A 2009 study by Steven Casper, Interim Dean of the Keck
Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences, on building successful
biotechnology clusters found that research funding that promotes
academic and industry collaboration can stimulate inventor
networks that are an important factor in developing strong regional
technology clusters.

(13) Funding research is overwhelmingly supported by the
public with nearly three-quarters of Americans thinking that
government investments in basic scientific research and in
engineering and technology pay off in the long run, according to
a July 2009 Pew Research Center poll on funding scientific
research.

(14) Given California’s assets and capacity for collaboration,
entrepreneurship, and innovation, a state investment to expand and
accelerate this research in the state and to promote the translation
of breakthroughs into the marketplace is an important investment
for California’s economic future.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that
would provide funding for the purpose of establishing and
operating a California-based research funding program to
complement the national BRAIN Initiative. It is the intent of the
Legislature to enact legislation that would ensure that this state
research funding program does all of the following:

(1) Includes nonstate matching funds over the life of the
program.

(2) Includes a strong emphasis on fostering technology transfer
of new discoveries into the marketplace.

(3) Promotes collaboration among both public and private
academia and industry.

(4) Ensures that research efforts and priorities are
well-coordinated to maximize the benefits to taxpayers for
investments from state, federal, and private sector sources.

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