(410 ILCS 110/20)

Sec. 20. Illinois Regenerative Medicine Institute Oversight Committee.

(a) The Illinois Regenerative Medicine Institute Oversight Committee shall be established to determine the awards under the Institute grant program. The Committee shall be composed of 7 members appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate.

(b) The Committee shall consist of individuals from:

(1) professional medical organizations;

(2) voluntary health organizations; and

(3) for-profit biomedical or biotechnology industry.

(c) The Committee shall at all times include at least one member from each of the 3 categories listed in subsection (b) of this Section.

(d) No member of the Committee shall be employed by an Illinois medical research institution eligible to receive awards under the Institute grant program.

(e) Upon appointment, the Governor shall designate 3 members to serve a 2-year term and 4 members to serve a 4-year term. The Committee shall designate a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and Secretary. Any vacancy occurring in the membership of the Committee shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

(f) No member of the Committee may receive compensation for his or her services, but each member may be reimbursed for expenses incurred in the performance of his or her duties.

(g) The duties and responsibilities of the Committee shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) determination of awards under the Institute grant program, based on recommendations developed under the competitive and scientific peer review process provided for in subdivision (c) (3) of Section 15 of this Act;

(2) review of the Department's solicitation and scientific peer review processes to ensure that the statutory purposes of the Institute grant program are met;

(3) development, in cooperation with Department staff, general guidelines for the conduct of funded research according to current best practices with respect to medical ethics, in consultation with national and international experts such as the International Society for Stem Cell Research, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the Institute of Medicine, and similar organizations; and

(4) advice on the future conduct of the Institute grant program.

(h) All Institute information concerning medical research shall be confidential and privileged and not subject to disclosure to any person other than Institute personnel.

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