On Mar. 15, 2005, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) officials announced the formation of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine to conduct embryonic and adult stem cell research that may lead to better treatments for HIV, cancer and neurological disorders.

UCLA provided $20 million over five years to launch the campus wide institute, which enabled teams of researchers to compete for state grants created by the passage of Proposition 71. The money paid for recruitment for a dozen new faculty positions, salaries and expansion of highly sophisticated laboratory space, infrastructure, and supplies