Amended in Senate May 13, 2014

Amended in Senate May 7, 2014

Amended in Senate April 22, 2014

Senate Bill No. 836

Introduced by Senator Corbett

( begin delete Coauthor: Senator end delete begin insert Coauthors: Senators Anderson, Beall, end insert Block begin insert , Cannella, Correa, Evans, Galgiani, Hancock, Hill, Lara, Lieu, Liu, Nielsen, Roth, and Wolk end insert )

begin insert

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Waldron)

end insert

January 6, 2014

An act 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.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 836, as amended, Corbett. Brain research: Cal-BRAIN program.

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.

This bill, the California Blueprint for Research to Advance Innovations in Neuroscience (Cal-BRAIN) Act of 2014, would request the Regents of the University of California to 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 begin insert convene certain stakeholders to end insert administer the Cal-BRAIN program begin delete consistent with specified objectives end delete begin insert to do specified tasks end insert and to provide information about the program through an Internet Web site. These provisions would only be implemented to the extent that adequate funding is appropriated to the University of California, as specified.

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

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

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of
the following:

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

SEC. 2.  

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

 

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

 

92985.  

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.

92986.  

(a) The Regents of the University of California are
requested to 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
begin delete administering end delete begin insert convening stakeholders from public and private
research institutions, national laboratories, biotechnology and
high technology companies, and venture capital firms to administer end insert
the Cal-BRAIN program begin delete consistent with end delete begin insert to do end insert all of the following:

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

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

(3)  begin delete Establishing end delete begin insert Establish end insert competitive, merit-based opportunities
for interested public and private California research institutions
begin insert and national laboratories end insert to apply for Cal-BRAIN program
funding.

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

(5)  begin delete Establishing end delete begin insert Establish end insert 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)  begin delete Soliciting end delete begin insert Solicit end insert 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.

92987.  

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.

92988.  

This chapter shall be implemented only to the extent
that adequate funding for its purposes, as determined by the
Regents of the University of California, is appropriated to the
University of California in the annual Budget Act or other statute.