Australia and Canada pledged their support to California’s stem-cell initiative June 18 with partnerships intended to spur innovative stem-cell research.

Canada said it would donate an initial $100 million over three years to the Canadian Cancer Stem Cell Consortium, which will work in tandem with the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, an initiative established in 2004 after voters approved Proposition 71.

The forces will try to gain greater understanding of the role cancer stem cells play in the development of the disease.

The first potential area of collaboration is the upcoming grant initiative to fund so-called “disease teams,” or multidisciplinary groups of scientists working toward common disease treatments.

Australia’s state of Victoria said the same day that it would join CIRM to jointly seek grant applications, evaluate them and make recommendations for funding research activities.

“Through this relationship, CIRM money will continue to be earmarked only for research that takes place within California, but we can expand and coordinate our overall efforts in certain areas through collaborative efforts funded by our colleagues in Australia,” said Alan Trounson, president of CIRM, in a statement.

Trounson is an Australian scientist and pioneer in the field of in vitro fertilization who took the helm at CIRM late last year.

— Heather Chambers