By Brock Reeve, M.Phil, M.B.A.

In 2008, 3% ($3.3B) of the United States’ expenditure of $130.5B on health research was funded by foundations and other private sources (source: Research!America, Faster Cures). That would seem to be such a small percent that it would not have much impact on the state of science and healthcare. However, in the stem cell field, this source of funding has been and will continue to be a critical component added to the traditional mix of government, venture and commercial funding.