(410 ILCS 110/15)

Sec. 15. Department grant program.

(a) The Department of Public Health shall develop and administer the Illinois Regenerative Medicine Institute Program within the Department to provide for the awarding of grants to Illinois medical research institutions.

(b) The purposes of the Institute grant program are:

(1) to improve the health of the citizens of Illinois through stem cell research;

(2) to support scientific research in Illinois for which funding from the U.S. government is currently restricted, namely human embryonic stem cell research;

(3) to improve the national competitive position of Illinois in the field of regenerative medicine; and

(4) to promote the translation of stem cell research into clinical practice and the transfer of technology to biomedical and technological industry.

(c) The Department shall adopt rules for the implementation of the Institute grant program, including but not limited to:

(1) rules for the solicitation of proposals for grants;

(2) rules concerning the eligibility of nonprofit Illinois medical research institutions to receive awards under the Institute grant program;

(3) rules for the conduct of competitive and scientific peer review of all proposals submitted under the Institute grant program;

(4) rules for the procurement of materials for the conduct of stem cell research, including rules ensuring that persons are empowered to make voluntary and informed decisions to participate or to refuse to participate in such research, and ensuring confidentiality of such decisions; and

(5) rules concerning the monitoring of funded research to ensure the researcher is following current best practices with respect to medical ethics, including informed consent of patients and the protection of human subjects.

(Source: P.A. 95-519, eff. 1-1-08.)