Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Ms. leslie smith
1065 62nd St Oakland, CA 94608-2321
[email protected]
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Monday, October 16, 2023 8:50:20 PM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Catherine Loudis <[email protected]> Date: Oct 13, 2023 12:26 PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Ms. Catherine Loudis
219 Butterfield Rd San Anselmo, CA 94960-1242
[email protected]
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Monday, October 16, 2023 8:50:29 PM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Miranda Helly <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 13, 2023 12:26 PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Ms. Miranda Helly
1570 Jackson St Oakland, CA 94612-4469
[email protected]
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Monday, October 16, 2023 8:50:41 PM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Emily Schmidt <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 13, 2023 11:14 AM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device interface company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Emily Schmidt
1415 Webster St Alameda, CA 94501-5097
[email protected]
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Monday, October 16, 2023 8:50:50 PM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Emily Schmidt <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 13, 2023 10:54 AM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device interface company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Emily Schmidt
1415 Webster St Alameda, CA 94501-5097
[email protected]
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Monday, October 16, 2023 8:58:03 PM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Cheryl Maslin <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 16, 2023 8:37 PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Cheryl Maslin
1412 Saint Charles St Apt C Alameda, CA 94501-7452
[email protected]
From: Trish Spencer
To: Jennifer Ott; Yibin Shen; Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] A letter from Science Corp
Date: Monday, October 16, 2023 8:58:35 PM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Max Hodak <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 16, 2023 8:25 PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] A letter from Science Corp
To: Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft <[email protected]>,Tony Daysog <[email protected]>,Tracy Jensen <[email protected]>,Trish Spencer <[email protected]>,Malia Vella <[email protected]> Cc:
Dear Alameda City Council,
At Science, we are developing advanced medical devices for serious unmet medical needs. Our first program is the Science Eye retinal prosthesis for patients who suffer from profound blindness due to rod- cone dystrophies such as retinitis pigmentosa and dry macular degeneration. These patients watch their vision dwindle over years until only spots of light are left, which today is completely irreversible.
There have been prior commercial attempts at visual prostheses, but none with the potential to achieve single-neuron resolution, which is necessary to restore high-resolution vision to the brain. We hope to offer patients who have spent many years in darkness the ability to see their childrens’ faces again, or the independence to walk across town on their own to buy coffee.
Our therapies, alongside every other medical device and drug from pacemakers to paxlovid, require animal research as mandated by the FDA and regulated by the USDA. While recent legislation allows the FDA to consider evidence other than animal studies, FDA reviewers and consultants have significant discretion in what they ask for, and they have told us through formal feedback that they require animal studies in order to seek approval for a first-in-human clinical trial in the US.
The FDA Modernization Act cites a range of new tools, including induced pluripotent stem cells, artificial intelligence, and organoid technologies as alternatives to animal studies. We use all of these, but unfortunately they are only a partial substitute. This is fundamentally a scientific technical limitation: in an ideal world no animal testing would be required, but today there is no other source of the critical safety and efficacy data used to justify risking a human patient, requirements imposed by federal regulators.
Personally, I believe there are often opportunities that make sense to go into human patients earlier than we do today, and would love to discuss FDA reform with anyone who will hear me, but on our path to reaching patients today this is not our call to make.
The species we use and the number of each is based on a dialog with those regulators. For example, whether we can use only rabbits or if some primate studies will be required is an active topic of discussion between our regulatory team and the FDA. If primate studies are required, it is possible we could do them elsewhere than Alameda Point.
With the complexity of our studies, it is not feasible to outsource them. Our vertical integration, where our electrical engineers are only a few steps from our surgeons and our stem cell biologists, is a key element of why we have been able to move as fast as we have in our two years of existence. Dividing the company would result in higher costs and longer timelines to reach patients, potentially even lowering the chance it reaches them at all.
The medicines we develop involve gene and cell therapies, and if they reach patients will be among the most complex pieces of biotechnology to ever reach the clinic. The assertions by PCRM that there are alternatives which don’t require testing, such as focused ultrasound or non-invasive electrical stimulation are not rooted in reality. If there were a non-invasive, wearable device that could be built to restore vision to patients, believe me, we would be building that instead. I have a family history of retinitis pigmentosa and grew up around it. It is hurtful for these groups to simply hand-wave away potential progress citing other technologies they do not understand which do not in fact work in the way they are suggesting.
As for the Neuralink allegations, I really cannot speak for them, as I am still under NDA from my time there. But I will say the recent pressure campaign coverage is a heavy mischaracterization of the facts. I know the Neuralink animal care team cares deeply about animal welfare and follows standards far in excess of traditional guidelines. Not many companies try to retire animals to sanctuary, but Neuralink has invested in doing just that when appropriate. In response to PCRM’s campaign, they have written a handful of articles providing more context on PCRM’s claims. You can find those articles here:
https://neuralink.com/blog/neuralink-s-commitment-to-animal-welfare/ https://neuralink.com/blog/championing-the-3-rs/
https://neuralink.com/blog/husbandry-refinement/
https://neuralink.com/blog/environmental-enrichment/
https://neuralink.com/blog/the-role-of-the-institutional-animal-care-and-use-committee/ Further, per public information, all of the records cited by PCRM are from the California National Primate Research Center at UC Davis under protocols approved by their Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. All of that work was reviewed and monitored by a panel of UC Davis faculty per field standards. Further, the 2021 pig study they reference happened after I had left the company, and I had no part in its design or implementation; all I know about it is from news articles.
At Science we are developing very different technology than Neuralink, and accordingly the species we have to use are different. Regardless, we commit to following the same high standards as evidenced in those blog posts, and doing what we can to give our research animals exceptional housing conditions and empower our vet med staff to provide the best possible care. All of this is regulated by the US Department of Agriculture, whose reports are public records, and who make unannounced inspections at least once a year in addition to responding to complaints.
The Science Eye is the first in a range of devices we plan to announce over the coming years, each focused on a different critical unmet medical need. More is possible than many believe today, and I am confident that the coming years are going to be surprising. We feel a deep moral obligation to bring these innovations to patients who can benefit from them the most.
Due to the nature of our operations, it is difficult to keep moving the company every few years as we outgrow facilities. Animal research is only a small part of what we do: the rest of the company needs highly-rated cleanrooms and extensive technical infrastructure. Moving all of this is extremely disruptive and complex. Our goal is to put down roots and spend the next several decades investing in our community and growing to be valuable members of the Alameda Point community. I have spent several years searching the Bay Area for this home, and we have no runner up. I am convinced that Alameda Point will be a highlight of the whole Bay Area by the end of this decade. We would love to be part of that as we work towards bringing these important therapies to patients.
If you have any questions, I can be flexible at your convenience to discuss further.
Thank you for your consideration,
Max Hodak
Science Corporation
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Monday, October 16, 2023 9:50:31 PM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Patricia Geary <[email protected]> Date: Oct 16, 2023 9:27 PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Ms. Patricia Geary
708 Reisling Ct Clayton, CA 94517-1417
[email protected]
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Monday, October 16, 2023 9:50:37 PM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ronald Canfield <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 16, 2023 9:05 PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Mr. Ronald Canfield
1242 Silva Ln Alameda, CA 94502-7609
[email protected]
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Monday, October 16, 2023 10:16:28 PM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tadeo ILARDE <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 16, 2023 10:08 PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Mr. Tadeo ILARDE
3043 Fernside Blvd Alameda, CA 94501-1627
[email protected]
From: Donna Fletcher
To: Jennifer Ott; Lara Weisiger; Malia Vella; Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft; Tony Daysog; Tracy Jensen; Trish Spencer Subject: [EXTERNAL] Item 7-B Approval of lease for Science Corporation Date: Monday, October 16, 2023 10:12:44 PM
Dear Mayor and members of the Council,
Please deny leasing City property to Science Corporation for animal research and experimentation!
This company’s abusive practices are really a form of physical torture in the name of science.
This type of operation does not represent Alameda’s values and should not be supported by the City! Making a place for it on City-owned land is essentially condoning and endorsing it.
We have a choice! Please vote NO on the lease to Science Corporation! Sincerely,
Donna and Peter Fletcher
112 Centre Court
Alameda
From: Scott Kottmer
To: CityCouncil-List
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Science Corporation"s Lease
Date: Monday, October 16, 2023 10:22:33 PM
Hi! My name is Scott Kottmer, and I work as an engineer at Science. I'm writing to express my support for the Science Corporation's lease for Building 11. My great uncle used to work as a mechanic when it was the naval air station (attached his picture if you're curious). As an Alameda resident, I would be honored to live and work in the same space.
Thanks!
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd:Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Monday, October 16, 2023 11:31:09 PM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michael Lowe <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 16, 2023 11:27 PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Mr. Michael Lowe
1241 Rosewood Way Alameda, CA 94501-5637
[email protected]
From: Alamedahouse Freeman
To: Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft; Tony Daysog; Malia Vella; Tracy Jensen; Trish Spencer; Lara Weisiger Subject: [EXTERNAL] Item 7B Lease for Building 11 with Science Corp Date: Monday, October 16, 2023 10:42:00 PM
Dear Mayor Ashcraft, Vice Mayor Daysog, and Councilmembers Vella, Spencer, and Jensen;
I am writing to urge you to vote no on the ordinance authorizing the City Manager to execute a lease for Building 11 with Science Corp.
Alameda has always been a city that valued animals and has great respect for them.
The need for research on any live animal has been reduced to almost unnecessary in the modern science world. To invite a corporation that continues to do such research to do business in Alameda is against our respect for the animal world. Even if this corporations claims that they will not be doing live animal research in Alameda, that fact that they do so any where would mean that they could advance to doing so once they have a lease for the building in Alameda.
Alameda does not need to do business with such a corporation and I request that you vote no on the request for the lease.
Respectfully,
Dorothy Freeman
CC; City Clerk Weisiger
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 8:25:40 AM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Stephen Kowalski <[email protected]> Date: Oct 17, 2023 8:18 AM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Mr. Stephen Kowalski
142 Purcell Dr Alameda, CA 94502-6550
[email protected]
From: Reyla Graber
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Fw: CC Meeting Tuesday Agenda Item #7A: Vote on leasing City property to Science Corp.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 5:14:12 AM
Attachments: A Science corporation.docx
Dec 5.Reuters Neuralink animal abuse
Dear Lara,
Please include my opposition email (below) in your file. Its to the Mayor M Ashcaraft.
thank you Reyla G.
Dear Mayor Marilyn Ashcraft,
I'm writing to ask you not to approve leasing our City Building to Science Corp, an animal research firm. Science Corp will be doing research on many, many monkeys rabbits etc. (And add pigs and sheep later!)
You may remember that about 15 years ago, an animal research firm, Covance with many allegations of abuse attached to it, applied to the HB Business Park. Covance intended to do research on sheep and pigs and cats. There was upswelling of opposition from Alameda residents and from outside of Alameda including the East Bay and Marin.
The Mayor at that time was Ralph Appezato, bless him.
At the last moment, Ralph "pulled" the Covance item from the Agenda and told everyone that they could go home! That was a huge relief for many, many residents.
From everything I've read about Science Corp and its President, Science Corp will be engaged primarily in brain exploration and experimentation. The experiments will be invasive and the animals will suffer and eventually be killed. They live an awful life of confinement before their final demise.
Although, Max Hodak, the President, implies they're hoping to help blindness, if you read his own words in his article entitled "A Science Corporation" the goal is not about blindness. Instead, it's the stuff of science fiction and making human beings smarter and with capabilities we don't now have. Can you imagine all the animals they will go through and dispose of in this very questionable pursuit? Alameda used to be known as "Mayberry". Well, maybe that title has faded a bit with increased crime etc. but that doesn't mean we've lost our values: Kindness in the community towards people -and toward animals-
is still very important and needs to be supported.
Also, now at the present time we don't have any monkey research firms in Alameda However, if the City allows this in, then very likely more such firms are sure to come.
Would we really want that as our moniker? "Alameda, animal research mecca of the East Bay- or Bay Area."?
Please Mayor Ashcraft, I'm asking you not to support this lease to Science Corporation.
Below is a link to Mr. Hodak's writings; there is a second link with a disturbing Reuters article about alledged animal abuse at Neuralink Corp. when Mr. Hodak was President of that company and in charge.
Thank you for your consideration to this important matter.
Reyla Graber
From: Karan Malhotra
To: CityCouncil-List
Subject: [EXTERNAL] The role of Building 11 in advancing Science"s mission Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 9:10:22 AM
Dear Council Members & Alameda community,
My name is Karan Malhotra & I lead the finance function at Science. I am writing to you today in support of the work that Science is doing & the role Building 11 can play in its success.
Initially, I had mixed feelings about joining Science & it was for one reason - - animals. This became much more personal to me when around that same time my dog's health was rapidly declining & I lost him.
I was inspired by the company's mission of restoring vision through unprecedented technology. And yet, as an animal lover it was tough for me to reconcile with the use of animals in its research. It was two things that solidified my decision:
- During my interview Max mentioned that Science is not in the business of maximizing the use of animals. I interpreted this unsolicited response to mean that the company does not take its animals for granted & takes great care of them. I can confidently say today that this is definitely the case. We have a world class animal care team in place whose affection for animals shows in the work they do in taking excellent care of them - I wanted to be part of an organization that is going to make the world a better place & so my partner & I decided to move from LA to be part of Science & Alameda I also volunteer to help the visually impaired through an app called 'Be My Eyes' with routine tasks that most of us wouldn't give a second thought to. The people I help get really excited & light up when I share with them what Science is working on. It gives them realistic hope that our technology is one day going to help them.
One last thing - - many of our employees live in Alameda & we want to expand the life sciences community in this beautiful & welcoming city. Building 11 is not merely an infrastructural upgrade, it's the next step in realizing our vision. I sincerely hope that you feel the same & will consider joining Science in making history.
Thank you.
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 9:00:41 AM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rita Nesel <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 17, 2023 8:40 AM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Rita Nesel
1250 Hawthorne St Alameda, CA 94501-3973
[email protected]
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 9:29:45 AM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Carla Cabral <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 17, 2023 9:22 AM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Carla Cabral
4100 Alhambra Ave Martinez, CA 94553-8898
[email protected]
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 9:29:57 AM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Curtis Vollmar <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 17, 2023 9:15 AM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Curtis Vollmar
1611 Fairview St Apt A Berkeley, CA 94703-2589
[email protected]
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject proposal to lease public land to animal testing company Science Corp.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 9:30:14 AM
Attachments: image001.png
Letter from PETA to Alameda City Council, Oct 17, 2023.pdf ---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Dr. Alka Chandna" <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 17, 2023 9:04 AM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject proposal to lease public land to animal testing company Science Corp.
To: Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft <[email protected]>,Tony Daysog <[email protected]>,Tracy Jensen <[email protected]>,Trish Spencer <[email protected]>,Malia Vella <[email protected]> Cc:
October 17, 2023
The Honorable Marilyn Ezzy Ashcroft
Mayor
City of Alameda
2263 Santa Clara Ave.
Alameda, CA 94510
Via e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Dear Mayor Ashcroft and Honorable Members of the Alameda City Council:
I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters globally, over 41,000 of whom live in Alameda County—to respectfully request that you reject the proposal to lease public land to the animal testing company Science Corp.
Science Corp., founded by Max Hodak, focuses on developing an implantable device for the brain. Hodak co-founded Neuralink with Elon Musk, and under his leadership, monkeys used in invasive brain experiments experienced seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and even death. Approving the proposed lease would enable Hodak to expand his company’s experiments on monkeys and other animals on public land.
Animal experimentation involves the use of non-consenting, sentient beings in procedures that can be painful and distressing—and most often, the experiments end with the animals being killed. Animals are held in tiny cages where they can only take one or two steps in any direction; the spaces represent tiny fractions of the areas they would traverse in the wild. They are also often deprived of companionship, access to outdoor spaces, opportunities for exercise, and sufficiently complex environments. Most importantly, they’re stripped of their autonomy, their ability to have any control over their lives and what happens to them. They endure lives of privation, extreme frustration, stress, trauma, and depression—even before they’re enrolled in experimental protocols. It’s scarcely surprising that opinion polls show that a clear majority of Americans oppose the use of animals in experimentation.
Moreover, data from experiments on animals very rarely translate to humans. According to the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration, 95 percent of all drugs that are determined to be safe and effective in animal tests are found to be either unsafe or ineffective in humans. Studies show that a staggering 90% of basic research, most of which involves animals, fails to lead to treatment for humans. The National Institutes of Health recognizes the problems with reliance on animals—shifting funding priorities away from animal use, while investing in non-animal, human relevant research methodologies.
As the biomedical research paradigm shifts away from cruel and outdated experiments on animals toward more reliable, human relevant methods, the work of companies like Science Corp. will be seen as both unethical and irrelevant. We urge you to reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Alka Chandna
Alka Chandna, Ph.D.
Vice President
Laboratory Investigations Cases
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
1536 16
th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
October 17, 2023
The Honorable Marilyn Ezzy Ashcroft
Mayor
City of Alameda
2263 Santa Clara Ave.
Alameda, CA 94510
Via e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Dear Mayor Ashcroft and Honorable Members of the Alameda City Council:
I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters globally, over 41,000 of whom live in Alameda County—to respectfully request that you reject the proposal to lease public land to the animal testing company Science Corp.
Science Corp., founded by Max Hodak, focuses on developing an implantable device for the brain. Hodak co-founded Neuralink with Elon Musk, and under his leadership, monkeys used in invasive brain experiments experienced seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and even death.
Approving the proposed lease would enable Hodak to expand his company’s experiments on monkeys and other animals on public land.
Animal experimentation involves the use of non-consenting, sentient beings in procedures that can be painful and distressing—and most often, the experiments end with the animals being killed. Animals are held in tiny cages where they can only take one or two steps in any direction; the spaces represent tiny fractions of the areas they would traverse in the wild. They are also often deprived of companionship, access to outdoor spaces, opportunities for exercise, and sufficiently complex environments. Most importantly, they’re stripped of their autonomy, their ability to have any control over their lives and what happens to them. They endure lives of privation, extreme frustration, stress, trauma, and depression—even before they’re enrolled in experimental protocols. It’s scarcely surprising that opinion polls show that a clear majority of Americans oppose the use of animals in experimentation.
Moreover, data from experiments on animals very rarely translate to humans.
According to the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration, 95% of new drugs that are determined to be safe and effective in animal tests are found to be either unsafe or ineffective in humans. Studies show that a staggering 90% of basic research, most of which involves animals, fails to lead to treatment for humans. The National Institutes of Health recognizes the problems with reliance on animals—shifting funding priorities away from animal use, while investing in non-animal, human relevant research methodologies.
As the biomedical research paradigm shifts away from cruel and outdated experiments on animals toward more reliable, human relevant methods, the work of companies like Science Corp. will be seen as both unethical and irrelevant. We urge you to reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Alka Chandna, Ph.D.
Vice President
Laboratory Investigations Cases
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
1536 16th Street NW, Washington, DC
[email protected] | 757-803-6447
From: Josh Cook
To: CityCouncil-List
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Proposal Support - Science Corp Expansion to Alameda Naval Base Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 10:53:31 AM
To the City Council,
My name is Josh Cook, and I am an employee of Science Corporation. I am reaching out to express our earnest interest in establishing our new office within the old Hangar 11 on the former Naval Base. I am writing to express my support for our company's application for the lease and to provide insights into the invaluable contributions our presence promises for the local community and beyond.
At Science, we specialize in developing innovative medical devices, focusing primarily on transformative technologies that restore and enhance capabilities individuals may have lost or found diminished, such as vision. Our work stands at the forefront of biotechnological advancement and has been recognized for its significant impact on improving quality of life.
Establishing an office in Alameda represents an opportunity for a partnership in growth. Our presence would mean:
Economic Development: Our company anticipates participating in the local economy through happy hours, dinners, team building events, and other celebrations requiring a venue space and party favors, thereby creating job opportunities and fostering economic stimulation within the city. Our investment in the local economy goes hand in hand with our commitment to corporate responsibility.
Community Engagement and Partnerships: Science prides itself on community integration.
We plan to collaborate with local institutions for shared knowledge, research, development, and providing potential educational opportunities. We recognize there are a number of cutting- edge Biotech companies on the island and surrounding Bay Area communities and hope to create a space and community that can continue to be recognized as a center of gravity for this type of work.
As a veteran, I am also very excited about the prospect of contributing to the revitalization of a former military installation. I truly love seeing some of the new businesses and spaces being opened around the base and believe that finding new use cases for older buildings, instead of building new ones elsewhere, is a great way to make use of existing space and bring some unique character to the city.
We truly believe in the city's potential to become a beacon of technological advancement and scientific innovation. With your support, we are eager to continue building our presence in this vibrant community and continuing to contribute to its economic vitality and well-being.
Thank you for your time and consideration!
Sincerely,
Josh Cook
Science Corp
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Letter in Support of Science Corp.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 11:33:39 AM
Attachments: NABR Letter to Alameda re Science Corp.pdf ---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Matthew Bailey <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 17, 2023 11:18 AM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Letter in Support of Science Corp.
To: Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft <[email protected]>,Tony Daysog <[email protected]>,Tracy Jensen <[email protected]>,Trish Spencer <[email protected]>,Malia Vella <[email protected]> Cc:
Oct. 17, 2023
The Honorable Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft
Mayor
City of Alameda
2263 Santa Clara Ave.
Alameda, CA 94501
Sent via email ([email protected]
; [email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]; and [email protected])
RE: Please vote in favor of the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Dear Mayor Ashcraft and Honorable Members of the Alameda City Council:
I am writing to you on behalf of the National Association for Biomedical Research (NABR) in support of Science Corp, a company that is focused on debilitating conditions for which there is a serious unmet medical need, such as blindness.
For 42 years, NABR has been the nation’s only organization solely dedicated to advocating for sound public policy in support of ethical and essential laboratory animal research and the lifesaving discoveries they produce. NABR’s diverse and unified membership includes more than 350 universities, medical and veterinary schools, teaching hospitals, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology companies, patient groups, and academic and professional societies that rely on humane and responsible use of research animals to advance global human and animal health.
Medical research with animal models is essential to the development of medications, treatments, preventions, and cures for diseases affecting adults, children, and animals around the world. Because of genetic similarities between animals and people, animals are invaluable models for countless human diseases like COVID-19. The fact is new prescription drugs, new medical devices, and biotechnology do not happen without highly regulated and humane animal research.
Animal research remains vital to our mission to understand diseases, discover targeted therapies, alleviate suffering, and improve and increase the quality of life. Unfortunately, many groups have engaged in emotional campaigns of fear, threats, and misinformation with the goal of ending all animal research. Biomedical research projects involving animals are governed by a strict structure of laws, regulations, and guidelines and is required by the FDA. In fact, there are more regulatory requirements for animal research than human research. This essential examination continues to yield invaluable data in the process of discovering new therapies to treat, cure, and prevent disease, as well as ensure public health.
The facility located in Alameda will lead to an increase in the development of much needed treatments and benefit the local economy by adding new jobs and tax revenue. Now more than ever, continued support for biomedical research is necessary to comprehend diseases and produce solutions and treatments to improve human and animal lives and reduce suffering.
On behalf of the scientific community, NABR encourages your support of Science Corp. and the important research to be conducted at their facilities. If you would like to discuss this issue further or have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 202-857-0540 or [email protected] .
Sincerely,
Matthew R. Bailey
President
National Association for Biomedical Research
1909 K Street, NW
Suite 300
Washington, DC 20006
202-857-0540
1909 K Street NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006 • 202.857.0540 • www.nabr.org • [email protected]
October 17, 2023
The Honorable Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft
Mayor
City of Alameda
2263 Santa Clara Ave.
Alameda, CA 94501
Sent via email ([email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; and [email protected])
RE: Please vote in favor of the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Dear Mayor Ashcraft and Honorable Members of the Alameda City Council:
I am writing to you on behalf of the National Association for Biomedical Research (NABR) in support of Science Corp, a company that is focused on debilitating conditions for which there is a serious unmet medical need, such as blindness.
For 42 years, NABR has been the nation’s only organization solely dedicated to advocating for sound public policy in support of ethical and essential laboratory animal research and the lifesaving discoveries they produce. NABR’s diverse and unified membership includes more than 350 universities, medical and veterinary schools, teaching hospitals, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology companies, patient groups, and academic and professional societies that rely on humane and responsible use of research animals to advance global human and animal health.
Medical research with animal models is essential to the development of medications, treatments, preventions, and cures for diseases affecting adults, children, and animals around the world. Because of genetic similarities between animals and people, animals are invaluable models for countless human diseases like COVID-19. The fact is new prescription drugs, new medical devices, and biotechnology do not happen without highly regulated and humane animal research.
Animal research remains vital to our mission to understand diseases, discover targeted therapies, alleviate suffering, and improve and increase the quality of life. Unfortunately, many groups have engaged in emotional campaigns of fear, threats, and misinformation with the goal of ending all animal research. Biomedical research projects involving animals are governed by a strict structure of laws, regulations, and guidelines and is required by the FDA.
In fact, there are more regulatory requirements for animal research than human research. This essential examination continues to yield invaluable data in the process of discovering new therapies to treat, cure, and prevent disease, as well as ensure public health.
1909 K Street NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006 • 202.857.0540 • www.nabr.org • [email protected]
The Honorable Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft
October 17, 2023
Page Two
The facility located in Alameda will lead to an increase in the development of much needed treatments and benefit the local economy by adding new jobs and tax revenue. Now more than ever, continued support for biomedical research is necessary to comprehend diseases and produce solutions and treatments to improve human and animal lives and reduce suffering.
On behalf of the scientific community, NABR encourages your support of Science Corp. and the important research to be conducted at their facilities. If you would like to discuss this issue further or have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 202-857-0540 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Matthew R. Bailey
President
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 11:34:03 AM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rocky Chau <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 17, 2023 11:03 AM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Rocky Chau
3811 Lakeside Dr Apt C212 Richmond, CA 94806-5755
[email protected]
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Animal welfare and Science Corp Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 11:33:52 AM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tracy S <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 17, 2023 11:08 AM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Animal welfare and Science Corp
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
I'm writing to ask you to vote against granting a lease of City property to Science Corp. They experiment on animals.
Alameda should not be directly complicit in the torture of animals. It is under your control and conscience to NOT lease city owned property to a company that openly performs these type of experiments.
Thanks for your consideration.
Tracy Soriano
Alameda resident
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 11:34:49 AM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Gloria Fong <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 17, 2023 10:35 AM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Gloria Fong
661 Centre Ct Alameda, CA 94502-6560
[email protected]
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 11:34:58 AM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Valerie Hirbod <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 17, 2023 10:25 AM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Valerie Hirbod
515 Centre Ct Alameda, CA 94502-6559
[email protected]
From: Reyla Graber
To: Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft; Tony Daysog; Malia Vella; Trish Spencer; Tracy Jensen; Lara Weisiger Subject: [EXTERNAL] Financial News Press Release Regarding Alameda and Science Corp Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 11:42:02 AM
Attachments: finance.yahoo.com.webloc
Dear Mayor and Council Members:
For your information, please read this press release.( link below) Alameda appears to be making some national news.
Again,please reject this 10 year lease to Science Corp.
Question :is this City building even in fit condition for these animals to live in 24 hours per day. Because it appears that Science Corp, is not investing in any infrastracture remodeling. This is just a lease.
Reyla Graber
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 2:29:56 PM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Robert E. Rutkowski" <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 17, 2023 2:08 PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
To: Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft <[email protected]>,Tony Daysog <[email protected]>,Tracy Jensen <[email protected]>,Trish Spencer <[email protected]>,Malia Vella <[email protected]> Cc: Keith Abouchar <[email protected]>
The Honorable Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft
Mayor
City of Alameda
2263 Santa Clara Ave.
Alameda, CA 94501
Sent via email ([email protected]
; [email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected])
Re: Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Dear Mayor Ashcraft and Honorable Members of the Alameda City Council:
A national medical ethics group is urging the Alameda City Council to reject a proposed lease for a medical device company whose CEO previously oversaw debilitating, deadly experiments on monkeys. The company, Science Corp., has applied to occupy Building 11 at Alameda Point, public property owned by the city, where it plans to conduct experiments on primates, rabbits, and mice. Its CEO, Max Hodak, was the co-founder and, until May 2021, president of the brain-computer interface company Neuralink. Hodak started Neuralink with Elon Musk, and the company’s experiments on monkeys at the University of California, Davis, from 2017 to 2020 caused public outcry when they were revealed last year by the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. In a letter sent Saturday, the Physicians Committee asked the city council to “pursue a different tenant—one whose use of public land will benefit the community.” The council will vote on the proposal during a public meeting on Oct. 17 at 7:00 p.m.
Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, bloody diarrhea, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The animals also suffered severe psychological distress, demonstrated by frequent hair-pulling and self-harm.
On at least two occasions, Neuralink’s lead neurosurgeon failed to follow the company’s own research protocols when he used a toxic adhesive to close gaps in monkeys’ skulls. One of those incidents caused a monkey, known as “Animal 21,” to suffer from a lack of coordination and balance, partial paralysis in both legs, and such severe vomiting that she developed open sores in her esophagus. Staff noted she was “gasping/retching” and “collapse[d] from exhaustion/fatigue.” When Neuralink finally euthanized her, staff found that blood had built up on the surface of her brain due to a “subdural hemorrhage.”
In December 2022, Reuters reported that Neuralink was “under federal investigation for potential animal-welfare violations amid internal staff complaints that its animal testing is being rushed, causing needless suffering and death”—including incidents that took place during Hodak’s leadership.
Local governments should not hand over public land to companies likely to engage in unethical, scientifically questionable animal experiments. If Alameda city leaders want to support research, they should encourage the use of human-relevant methods that can benefit patients.
In its letter to the city council, the Physicians Committee pointed out that implanted devices like the one being developed by Science Corp. come with a myriad of problems, including difficulty of repair and a high potential for severe medical complications. In comparison, noninvasive treatments for vision loss minimize such risks. The letter emphasized that ultrasound stimulation of the primary visual cortex has shown promise in human patients without “any adverse effects” for participants. In addition, a 2020 review of noninvasive methods for vision recovery using electrical stimulation found “conclusive evidence” that this method could be a viable treatment. Even stem cell therapies for retinal degeneration can be developed without the use of animals.
Full letter: https://pcrm.widen.net/s/gjhwcgvpnb/physicians-committee-letter-to-alameda-city-council-re-science- corp-2023-10-14
Yours sincerely,
Robert E. Rutkowski
cc:
Correspondence Team
Longworth House Office Building
Washington DC 20515
[email protected]
2527 Faxon Court
Topeka, Kansas 66605-2086
P/F: 1 785 379-9671
E-mail: [email protected]
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 2:27:40 PM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Christine Garcia-Kelly <[email protected]> Date: Oct 17, 2023 1:51 PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Mrs Christine Garcia-Kelly
454 Las Gallinas Ave # 106 San Rafael, CA 94903-3618
[email protected]
From: Alameda Citizens Task Force
To: Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft; Tony Daysog; Malia Vella; Trish Spencer; Tracy Jensen Cc: Abby Thorne-Lyman; Manager Manager; Lara Weisiger
Subject: [EXTERNAL] City Council 19/17/2023 Agenda Item 7-B Science Corp Lease Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 2:39:57 PM
ACT
Alameda Citizens Task Force
Vigilance, Truth, Civility
Dear Mayor Ashcraft, Vice Mayor Daysog and Council Members Vella, Spencer & Jensen:
We strongly oppose the lease of Building 11 at Alameda Point to Science Corp. It is clear from the letter you have received from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine that it would be highly inappropriate to have this company operating on property owned by the City. A short excerpt from that letter serves as a summary of the more detailed information that follows it.
“Max Hodak, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Science Corp., was the co- founder and, until May 2021, president of the brain-computer interface company Neuralink.
Hodak started Neuralink with Elon Musk, and the company’s experiments on monkeys at the University of California, Davis, from 2017 to 2020 became the source of public outcry when they were revealed by the Physicians Committee last year. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, bloody diarrhea, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The animals also suffered severe psychological distress, demonstrated by frequent hair-pulling and self-harm.”
We are distressed that the Base Use Development Department is recommending this lease, when just a modicum of internet research reveals the highly objectionable nature of the same.
Sincerely,
ACT Board of Directors
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 2:43:28 PM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Pat Cuviello <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 17, 2023 2:07 PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Mr. Pat Cuviello
205 De Anza Blvd # 125 San Mateo, CA 94402-3989
[email protected]
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 2:44:49 PM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: JoAnna Holsman <[email protected]> Date: Oct 17, 2023 1:19 PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Ms. JoAnna Holsman
1610 Morton St Alameda, CA 94501-2413
[email protected]
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Science Corp project
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 3:39:31 PM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Harry Hartman <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 17, 2023 3:33 PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Science Corp project
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Trish,
I would like to urge you to vote No for that Science Corp project at Building 11 on the Base. This is not a good fit for our values here in Alameda. We want to protect all animals that will be injured that this company has done in the past.
Thanks for your consideration.
Harry Hartman
Humane Society of Alameda
(510) 604-6893
Sent from my iPhone
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 3:39:41 PM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Joan MacGuire <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 17, 2023 3:36 PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Ms. Joan MacGuire
529 Palace Ct Alameda, CA 94501-3797
[email protected]
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 3:42:47 PM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Karen Godden <[email protected]>
Date: Oct 17, 2023 3:33 PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Ms. Karen Godden
529 Palace Ct Alameda, CA 94501-3797
[email protected]
From: Trish Spencer
To: Lara Weisiger
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 3:53:49 PM
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Lynne PreFontaine <[email protected]> Date: Oct 17, 2023 3:24 PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please reject the lease for Science Corp.
To: Trish Spencer <[email protected]>
Cc:
Dear Councilmember Trish Spencer,
As a local resident, I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed lease on public land for medical device company Science Corp. and pursue a different tenant. Science Corp. was founded and is run by Max Hodak, who co-founded and served as president of Neuralink until 2021. Public records show that, during Hodak’s leadership at Neuralink, monkeys subjected to invasive brain experiments suffered seizures, paralysis, chronic infections, internal bleeding, and death. The company even failed to follow its own research protocols. The troubling details of Hodak’s past work were detailed in a recent WIRED exposé titled “The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died.”
Now, his new company wants to lease public land to expand its own experiments on monkeys and other animals.
We need ethical, human-relevant research – not cruel, unnecessary animal experiments.
There is no need to develop invasive devices that kill animals and pose serious risks to patients. In fact, medical experts have raised serious concerns about the health risks of such invasive devices—like the one being developed by Science Corp.—and their significant potential for severe medical complications in patients. The company should instead focus on improving noninvasive devices.
Researchers elsewhere have already made progress to improve patient health using such noninvasive methods, which do not come with the risk of surgical complications, infections, or additional operations to repair malfunctioning implants. Noninvasive devices are already demonstrating the ability to improve quality of life for older adults and elderly patients, translate brain activity into intelligible speech, and assist paralyzed patients.
Please reject the proposed lease for Science Corp.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Lynne PreFontaine
535 Palace Ct Alameda, CA 94501-3732
[email protected]
From: leslie shubin
To: CityCouncil-List
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Fwd: : REMINDER: PLEASE tell the Council to vote NO-on Science Corporation, an animal research firm
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 4:59:41 PM
Attachments: A Science corporation.docx
A Science corporation.docx
Dec 5.Reuters Neuralink animal abuse
Please vote NO on this horrific company renting from the city of Alameda. I do not want an animal killing laboratory in my city! DISGUSTING!!!
Sent from my iPad
Begin forwarded message:
From: Carole Lohr <[email protected]>
Date: October 17, 2023 at 4:25:49 PM PDT
To: Leslie Shubin <[email protected]>, Sheilah Cahill
<[email protected]>, Donna Little <[email protected]>, Dale Arrivee <[email protected]>, Jennifer Ayres <[email protected]>, Marilyn Pomeroy <[email protected]>
Subject: Fwd: : REMINDER: PLEASE tell the Council to vote NO-on Science Corporation, an animal research firm
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: Reyla Graber <[email protected]>
Date: October 16, 2023 at 17:27:35 PDT
Subject: : REMINDER: PLEASE tell the Council to vote NO-on Science Corporation, an animal research firm
Dear Friends and Neighbors--
Can you please send a very brief email to the City Council saying vote No. For further info please read my original letter with attachments and photo way below.
Here is a sample letter for your consideration:
"Dear Honorable Mayor and City Council Members,
I'm writing to you to ask all of you to vote down(no) on leasing our city building at the base to Science Corp., an animal research firm.
They will be using primates, rabbits etc.. Later, maybe pigs and sheep.
The animals will be terribly confined and have invasive products cut inside inside their brains and on their
heads.They will suffer. Later they will all be killed.
And sadly, statistics show that 90% of human trials fail after animal testing.
So, animal testing appears dubious at best regarding results and safety. On the brighter side, more and more alternative methods to animal testing are being found.
Back To Science Corp: The firm is intent on power games:
making human brains faster and smarter and add more
capabilities like something out of science fiction.
If Science corp says they have more altruistic aims, then please read
Science Corp's President Max Hodak's article in the
attachment( below.)
It is clear that the goal is brain experimentation and
exploration.
In Alameda we greatly value kindness towards the community and towards our animals. As we have no monkey research yet in Alameda, please don't start it now. Once started, more firms will want to come.
Once again, I'm asking you to please vote NO.
Sincerely
CC addresses: [email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],[email protected],
[email protected]. Also City clerk
[email protected].
Original letter sent to you Friday night:
Important: Concerned Residents
There is a bizarre sounding animal research firm slated to rent a large City Property! Hundreds of monkeys, rabbits and rodents will be used in their experiments.
At next Tuesday’s City Council meeting :Agenda# 7A
the City Council will vote whether to approve the lease.It will take the vote of 4 CCmembers because this is City property.
The CEO and President of Science Corp is Max Hodak who was the recent president and co-founder the Neuralink Corp.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine( PCRM) ( over 900,00 members) under Hodak ‘s tenure as President, found evidence of long time animal abuse of their Rhesus Macaque monkeys. Elon Musk was also involved with this
Company.
Additionally, 3 Neuralink employees stated there was ongoing animal abuse at the company. Many of these monkeys suffered grave pain as a result and were eventually killed. Per a Reuter’s article of 12/5 22 an expert estimates that 1500 animals were killed including 280 sheep, pigs and monkeys at Neuralink from 2018 to 2022. ( the link to article is below)
Hodak quit Neuralink in 2021 to found Science Corp. Hodak has written an article
about his new company entitled “Science Corp.” ( link is below).
It seems clear from his article etc that brain experimentation and exploration will be the primary goal, whether its by photonics or some other means. Hodak , writes that he envisions a New World where we may be “...Adding new senses....” [to our already 5 senses] Perhaps this sounds like interesting experimentation, until you think of the heavy suffering and cost to many, many innocent animals that will be extremely confined and subjected for a long time to this experimentation and then will be killed. Hodak writes ominously [ that the experiments]” ....will not be non invasive”.
PLEASE write/ email the City Council n before next Tuesday and ask them to vote NO. ( email addresses are below.)
ALSO it’s really important for concerned residents come to City Hall next Tuesday10/17, at 7:00 pm and tell the City Council in person to vote NO. You can also join the City Website to participate on Zoom, but coming in person at City Hall is still most persuasive. (Corner of Oak/Santa Clara) In general, Alamedans greatly value kindness within our community .
We highly value kind acts on behalf of people --and also for our animals!
Surely most Alamedans do not want our City Property to be used for science fiction “Brave New World “ brain experimentation on monkeys, rabbits and rats.
Please tell the City Council to vote “ NO”. We don’t want this or need this, particularly on a City property.
Thank you, Janet Davis, Anda Bockis, Joe Cloren, Reyla Graber, Pat Gannon, Carole Lohr, and many more Alameda residents.
Photo entitled: Elon Musk's Disturbing Show and
Tell
City Council
addresses: [email protected], [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected], [email protected] also City Clerk, [email protected],
Links to Articles:
Max Hodak" A Science Corporation" Reuters 12/5/22
Neuralink Article
<Animal 15 Picture 1_0.jpg>
A Science corporation
September 2021
Long story short, a couple friends and I — our unifying trait being persistent optimism that with the best possible tools and minimal red tape, more things are possible than most people realize — have started a new company, which we've named Science.
I explain a bit about what we're up to below, and if these kinds of challenges are interesting to you, please consider coming to work with us!
It’s pretty shocking how much better life science tools have become over the last decade or so. I mean seriously, just look at this:
Fly Hemibrain Overview, HHMI & Google
Multi-beam FIB -SEMs basically enable direct digitization of blocks of matter at single -digit nanometer resolution, enabling us to “scan” tissue and automatically reconstruct the dense anatomy using deep learning. We’ve gone from microarrays to spatial transcriptomics . We can directly visualize single Cas9 molecules cutting a molecule of DNA using high speed atomic force microcopy.
More scalably, single-molecule localization microscopy using off -the-shelf superresolution confocals is now becoming widely available. In 2000 we had GCaMP, and now we have compartment-localizable ultrafast voltage indicators and light beads microscopy.
Consider the following interpretation of the dichotomy between science and engineering: if you can directly see and manipulate the things you’re dealing with, you’re doing engineering, and if not — you need to ask clever indirect questions to get at what you’re really interested in — you’re doing science.
Because of this intervening cleverness, science is “hard” and often advances serendipitously, but improving technology has steadily transferred more and more content from the realm of science to the realm of engineering, just as similar progress produced a conveyor belt from natural philosophy to modern science during the Enlightenment.
Probably to no great surprise, “Track 1” at Science is Neural Engineering. Specifically, our initial focus is on the cranial nerves, using some exciting ideas we think are promising that, while definitely known in the literature, don’t seem to have caught on yet. This scope reduction yields a much simpler set of problems to solve, as the general problem of BCI is tough and bordered on all sides by imposing physics barriers, while still enabling some pretty dramatic products.
To understand this plan, it’s important to see the divergence in the goals of neuroscience overall and the sub-field of brain-machine interfaces in particular.
At the highest level, neuroscience is concerned with understanding the structure and function of brains: what they are and how they work. In this pursuit, you find yourself asking questions along the lines of “how does this particular circuit in the hippocampus underlie the formation of memories?” or “how do varying levels of protein expression in the accum bens relate to addictive behaviors?” or the like. To answer these questions, you need to get inside the brain to where these phenomena are happening and there’s no way around it — peering into the brain is in some sense the whole game.
Naturally, the field of neuroscience has produced a wide variety of tools for observing things happening inside the brain. This is where brain- machine interfacing comes in: if we can record or drive neural activity, maybe we can connect the brain to external systems. But the goal of brain- machine interfacing isn’t necessarily to understand the brain, at least not any more than required to add I/O channels. Brain-machine interfacing inherited a roadmap from neuroscience, because the field came out of neuroscience, but ultimately these are different endeavors.
While it’s extraordinarily difficult to reach into the brain, all of the information that flows in or out goes through only a handful of nerves in the head and spine. These form the complete “API” of the body: if you can connect to them with single -unit resolution — still extremely difficult — you can provide exactly the same senses and motor surface that your nose, eyes, ears, hands and so on do.
Crucially, you don’t need to place anything into the parenchyma, the sensitive bulk tissue, to do this.
It’s not “non- invasive,” but there are early products on this road that should have a safety profile approaching true mass-market consumer devices, and others may be able to do some truly wild things for patients with few alternatives. The future isn’t better smartphones or AR glasses: it’s making the sensorium itself directly programmable, and maybe even adding new senses entirely.
To be clear, these are aspirations. I’m not saying we have some secret device behind the curtain you should be hyped about. What I am saying is that this is technically possible to do, and we should do it.
We’ve raised the mon ey to get started — actually significantly more than what’s been publicly reported, but that’s the wrong thing to focus on — and now we have to go make things. We believe we have a clear view through to a first big defining product, built on an overlooked technical approach that hopefully we can deliver to patients in a timely manner.
As for Neuralink, I was being genuine when I said that I learned a ton there and remain significantly invested in their success. The truth is that it wasn’t my choice to leave, and there was a lot left there I still wanted to do. But as usual, Elon was right: it was time for me to go. The background is complex and, in some sense, doesn’t really matter. In what should be a surprise to no one, Elon is by far the most effective operator I’ve ever met, and the four years I had there were, in retrospect, the best education on how to turn difficult technical problems into businesses I could have possibly found.
Going forward, though we both work with the brain, our goals are different: Science is not working on products that will likely be very useful for merging with AI, though that is a mission in which I hope Neuralink is successful . From a technology standpoint, what we are pursuing at Science is quite different.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve dreamt of a world of bits. Building things with atoms is expensive and difficult, but beyond that, Earth is small and intensely contested. Space is vast and open, but utterly inhospitable for humans. Maybe someday we will terraform Mars, but we will never terraform Europa. The promise of neural engineering is that, one way or another, we won’t have to.
See you in the Matrix.
© 2008 - 2023
•
•
•
•
A Science corporation
September 2021
Long story short, a couple friends and I — our unifying trait being persistent optimism that with the best possible tools and minimal red tape, more things are possible than most people realize — have started a new company, which we've named Science.
I explain a bit about what we're up to below, and if these kinds of challenges are interesting to you, please consider coming to work with us!
It’s pretty shocking how much better life science tools have become over the last decade or so. I mean seriously, just look at this:
Fly Hemibrain Overview, HHMI & Google
Multi-beam FIB-SEMs basically enable direct digitization of blocks of matter at single-digit nanometer resolution, enabling us to “scan” tissue and automatically reconstruct the dense anatomy using deep learning. We’ve gone from microarrays to spatial transcriptomics. We can directly visualize single Cas9 molecules cutting a molecule of DNA using high speed atomic force microcopy. More scalably, single-molecule localization microscopy using off-the-shelf superresolution confocals is now becoming widely available. In 2000 we had GCaMP, and now we have compartment-localizable ultrafast voltage indicators and light beads microscopy.
Consider the following interpretation of the dichotomy between science and engineering: if you can directly see and manipulate the things you’re dealing with, you’re doing engineering, and if not — you need to ask clever indirect questions to get at what you’re really interested in — you’re doing science.
Because of this intervening cleverness, science is “hard” and often advances serendipitously, but improving technology has steadily transferred more and more content from the realm of science to the realm of engineering, just as similar progress produced a conveyor belt from natural philosophy to modern science during the Enlightenment.
Probably to no great surprise, “Track 1” at Science is Neural Engineering. Specifically, our initial focus is on the cranial nerves, using some exciting ideas we think are promising that, while definitely known in the literature, don’t seem to have caught on yet. This scope reduction yields a much simpler set of problems to solve, as the general problem of BCI is tough and bordered on all sides by imposing physics barriers, while still enabling some pretty dramatic products.
To understand this plan, it’s important to see the divergence in the goals of neuroscience overall and the sub-field of brain-machine interfaces in particular.
At the highest level, neuroscience is concerned with understanding the structure and function of brains: what they are and how they work. In this pursuit, you find yourself asking questions along the lines of “how does this particular circuit in the hippocampus underlie the formation of memories?” or “how do varying levels of protein expression in the accumbens relate to addictive behaviors?” or the like. To answer these questions, you need to get inside the brain to where these phenomena are happening and there’s no way around it — peering into the brain is in some sense the whole game.
Naturally, the field of neuroscience has produced a wide variety of tools for observing things happening inside the brain. This is where brain-machine interfacing comes in: if we can record or drive neural activity, maybe we can connect the brain to external systems. But the goal of brain- machine interfacing isn’t necessarily to understand the brain, at least not any more than required to add I/O channels. Brain-machine interfacing inherited a roadmap from neuroscience, because the field came out of neuroscience, but ultimately these are different endeavors.
While it’s extraordinarily difficult to reach into the brain, all of the information that flows in or out goes through only a handful of nerves in the head and spine. These form the complete “API” of the body: if you can connect to them with single-unit resolution — still extremely difficult — you can provide exactly the same senses and motor surface that your nose, eyes, ears, hands and so on do.
Crucially, you don’t need to place anything into the parenchyma, the sensitive bulk tissue, to do this. It’s not “non-invasive,” but there are early products on this road that should have a safety profile approaching true mass-market consumer devices, and others may be able to do some truly wild things for patients with few alternatives. The future isn’t better smartphones or AR glasses:
it’s making the sensorium itself directly programmable, and maybe even adding new senses entirely.
To be clear, these are aspirations. I’m not saying we have some secret device behind the curtain you should be hyped about. What I am saying is that this is technically possible to do, and we should do it. We’ve raised the money to get started — actually significantly more than what’s been publicly reported, but that’s the wrong thing to focus on — and now we have to go make things. We believe we have a clear view through to a first big defining product, built on an overlooked technical approach that hopefully we can deliver to patients in a timely manner.
As for Neuralink, I was being genuine when I said that I learned a ton there and remain significantly invested in their success. The truth is that it wasn’t my choice to leave, and there was a lot left there I still wanted to do. But as usual, Elon was right: it was time for me to go. The background is complex and, in some sense, doesn’t really matter. In what should be a surprise to no one, Elon is by far the most effective operator I’ve ever met, and the four years I had there were, in retrospect, the best education on how to turn difficult technical problems into businesses
I could have possibly found. Going forward, though we both work with the brain, our goals are different: Science is not working on products that will likely be very useful for merging with AI, though that is a mission in which I hope Neuralink is successful. From a technology standpoint, what we are pursuing at Science is quite different.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve dreamt of a world of bits. Building things with atoms is expensive and difficult, but beyond that, Earth is small and intensely contested. Space is vast and open, but utterly inhospitable for humans. Maybe someday we will terraform Mars, but we will never terraform Europa. The promise of neural engineering is that, one way or another, we won’t have to.
See you in the Matrix.
© 2008 - 2023
From: Donna Little
To: Lara Weisiger; Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft; Malia Vella; Tony Daysog; Tracy Jensen; Trish Spencer Subject: [EXTERNAL] NO on Science Corp.
Date: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 5:01:34 PM
Dear Honorable Mayor and City Council Members,
I'm writing to you to ask all of you to vote down(no) on leasing our city building at the base to Science Corp., an animal research firm.
They will be using primates, rabbits etc.. Later, maybe pigs and sheep.
The animals will be terribly confined and have invasive products cut inside inside their brains and on their heads.They will suffer. Later they will all be killed.
And sadly, statistics show that 90% of human trials fail after animal testing.
So, animal testing appears dubious at best regarding results and safety.
On the brighter side, more and more alternative methods to animal testing are being found.
Back To Science Corp: The firm is intent on power games: making human brains faster and smarter and add more capabilities like something out of science fiction.
If Science corp says they have more altruistic aims, then please read Science Corp's President Max Hodak's article in the attachment( below.) It is clear that the goal is brain experimentation and exploration.
In Alameda we greatly value kindness towards the community and towards our animals. As we have no monkey research yet in Alameda, please don't start it now. Once started, more firms will want to come.
Once again, I'm asking you to please vote NO.
Sincerely,
Donna and David Little
VOTENOon7-B: Leasefor ScienceCorp.
Dear Mayor Ashcraft andMembersof theAlamedaCityCouncil, TheEast BayAnimal PACurgesyoutoREJECTtheproposedleasefor ScienceCorp.(Item7-B).
ScienceCorp. wasfoundedandisrunbyMaxHodak, whoco-foundedandservedaspresidentof ElonMusk’scompanyNeuralinkwhichsubjectedmonkeystoinvasivebrainexperiments,causingseizures, paralysis, chronicinfections, internal bleeding, anddeath.
Thedetailsof Hodak’spast workweredetailedinarecent WIREDexposétitled“TheGruesomeStoryof HowNeuralink’sMonkeysActuallyDied.” Accordingtothearticle, “UCDavisveterinaryrecordscitedbythePhysiciansCommittee—whichWIREDalsoobtainedthroughasubsequentCaliforniapublicrecordsrequest—chronicleabatteryof complicationsthat developedfollowingproceduresinvolvingelectrodesbeingsurgicallyimplantedintomonkeys’ brains. Thecomplicationsincludebloodydiarrhea, partial paralysis, andcerebral edema, aconditioncolloquiallyknownas“brainswelling.” TheCityof Alamedashouldnot providealeaseof publiclandtoanyonewithahistoryofquestionableandunethical practicesrelatedtoprimatetesting.
TheEast BayAnimal PACstronglyurgesyoutoREJECTtheproposedleasefor ScienceCorp.
Thankyou,Michael ColbrunoChair, East BayAnimal PAC.