Governor's choice for stem cell chairman (Robert Klein II)

[Khephra]

Governor's choice for stem cell chairman
Palo Alto developer appears shoo-in to direct new program

Palo Alto real estate developer Robert Klein II won the backing Monday of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to direct the state's $3 billion stem cell research program.

Klein, who led the campaign that won passage of Proposition 71 in the Nov. 2 election, has long been the front-runner to serve as chairman of the 29- member oversight board being assembled to run the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

In approving Prop. 71, voters authorized up to $350 million a year in state bonds to finance the institute's activities for the next decade. The first research grants are expected by May.

Klein, 59, appears to be a shoo-in after his nomination for the chairman's job by the state's top elected official -- a Republican who broke ranks with the Bush administration to publicly back Prop. 71. The measure is aimed mainly at promoting embryonic stem cell research ineligible for federal grants under restrictions President Bush enacted in 2001.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/12/14/MNGL7ABKFR1.DTL