As the first US Food and Drug Administration–approved clinical trial of human embryonic stem (hES) cells gets underway, the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine in San Francisco (CIRM) is pushing forward with a second round of translational grants. The first round of Disease Team Research Awards, expected recipients to have an approvable investigational new drug (IND) application ready to file within four years. The second round, which will be announced this month, requires that programs have filed an IND or be in phase 1 or 2 by the end of the grant period. The lengthy application process, which includes a six-month planning period, is designed to give teams time to formulate ideas, establish collaborations, and prepare proposals and supporting documentation, according to Bettina Steffen, who, as associate director of development activities at CIRM, oversees the disease teams. CIRM also helps teams set milestones, and evaluate their progress. “We see ourselves as advocates. We want them to put their best foot forward,” Steffen says. Geron's hES cell–derived clinical trial is based on work done at the University of California, Irvine, by Hans Keirstead, a CIRM grantee. The trial itself, however, is not funded by CIRM, as its first round of translational grants excluded clinical studies, says Steffen.