Injury prevention.

Existing law, the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act of 1999, establishes the Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund, continuously appropriated to the University of California, for the purpose of awarding grants to perform spinal cord injury research projects. The fund consists of moneys from private entities, as specified, as well as public moneys transferred to the fund. Existing law, with the approval of the Regents of the University of California, also creates a Spinal Cord Injury Research Program in the University of California to promote spinal cord injury research in California. The program and the fund are repealed as of January 1, 2011. This bill would eliminate the Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund, and instead permit the University of California to establish a spinal cord injury research fund, independent of the State Treasury, to accept public and private funds for spinal cord injury research programs and grants, as prescribed. It would delete the repeal date of provisions relating to the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program thus indefinitely extending the duration of those provisions.