Dr. Neil Riordan on health: what the evidence says · JRE #1066
SUBJECT: HEALTH
The short answer
Riordan claims California's embryonic stem cell program (CIRM, funded by the ~$3 billion Prop 71) spent nearly all its money and pivoted almost entirely to adult/umbilical cord stem cell research after embryonic approaches failed. Riordan's claim about CIRM's funding running low is broadly accurate for the era: California's Proposition 71 provided roughly $3 billion starting in 2004, and by the late 2010s the agency had nearly exhausted that money, leading to what CIRM's own annual report calls "a long period of uncertainty" that ended only when voters approved a further $5.5 billion under Proposition 14 in November 2020.
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
at last count, I think they spent, you know, two and three quarter billion dollars. They got $250 million left. And guess what they're studying now? Adult stem cells. They're studying umbilical cord stem cells.
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
Riordan's claim about CIRM's funding running low is broadly accurate for the era: California's Proposition 71 provided roughly $3 billion starting in 2004, and by the late 2010s the agency had nearly exhausted that money, leading to what CIRM's own annual report calls "a long period of uncertainty" that ended only when voters approved a further $5.5 billion under Proposition 14 in November 2020. However, the claim that CIRM pivoted almost entirely away from embryonic stem cell research toward adult and umbilical cord cell studies is not supported. CIRM's own program pages show it has continued to fund human embryonic stem cell-derived clinical trials, including an active cardiomyocyte therapy for chronic ischemic heart disease, alongside adult stem cell, induced pluripotent stem cell, and gene therapy programs. As of its most recent public reporting, CIRM has funded over 100 clinical trials and more than 237 stem cell and gene therapy programs across multiple cell types, not a program narrowed down to adult or cord blood stem cells alone. The claim's framing that embryonic research was set aside is therefore misleading, even though the underlying point about the original funding nearly running out is factually grounded.