Editorial - 22-11

The Canada California Strategic Innovation Partnership (CCSIP) has scored its second major victory with the creation of the Cancer Stem Cell Consortium (CSCC) and at least $100 million in funding over five years (see page 3). The CSCC is the first initiative since the linking of the CANARIE network to its California counterpart to realize the CCSIP's objective of increasing targeted research collaboration between the two jurisdictions.

The CSCC's formation and the prospect of exploring the unique characteristics of stem cells is a major win for Canada and should be celebrated. It's a mystery, however, that the CCSIP was not mentioned in any of the press materials accompanying the announcement. For the past two and half years, many talented individuals have worked tirelessly to make the CCSIP a reality.

A major roadblock has been slow pace of Ottawa's response to the multi-faceted opportunity. It has only been the tenacity of those behind the CSCC that convinced the government to dedicate funding to the venture in the latest Budget and other organizations are jumping on board.

But the CCSIP is involved other fields of research where progress has been slow. There have been no announcements in the areas of nanotechnology, transportation and energy or infectious diseases. These are equally important and should be the focus of concerted efforts to launch collaborative research that will benefit both Canada and California.

They need a champion and the federal government is ideally positioned to play that role and dedicate the resources to make it happen.