Prop 38 is California’s opportunity to accelerate research for life-saving treatments and cures for families facing cancer, Alzheimer's, heart disease and more

SACRAMENTO, CA, UNITED STATES, September 23, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- As federal funding cuts to the National Institutes of Health and other medical research threaten clinical trials and the development of new treatments, patients, scientists and leading advocacy organizations urge California voters to join them in supporting YES on Proposition 38, the Immunology Medical Research & Cures Initiative. The group represents a broad coalition of more than 60 patient advocacy, medical and research organizations backing the measure.

“I’m alive today because of the researchers and doctors who found an immunotherapy that cured my cancer,” said Andrew Dale, cancer survivor, immunotherapy patient and patient advocate. “I know what it means to have your life depend on the next scientific breakthrough, and I am around to see my children grow up because of this kind of research. Patients are fighting for their lives right now and are waiting for the treatment that could save them. Prop 38 will help find the next life-saving treatment and get it to patients faster.”

Prop 38 will provide $8.4 billion of vitally needed funding to advance immunology research to help prevent and treat cancer, Alzheimer's, heart disease, and other persistent diseases. Immunotherapies harness the body's own immune system to prevent and cure diseases, and they are already successfully treating patients with melanoma, lung cancer, leukemia and lymphoma.

“Federal research funding cuts and uncertainty are putting medical research, clinical trials and future breakthroughs at risk, and patients simply can’t afford to wait,” said Thea Zajac, Senior Director of Grassroots Advocacy at Blood Cancer United. “Prop 38 strengthens California’s research infrastructure and increases scientific collaboration, so patients get access to these breakthrough immunotherapies sooner and the cures come faster.”

Scientists are also studying how immunology could create new treatments for diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS and heart disease. Prop 38 will fund the next generation of this groundbreaking research for other devastating diseases, like diabetes, muscular dystrophy, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and multiple sclerosis.

“Immunotherapies are treating and curing diseases in a way that wasn’t possible ten years ago,” said Alicia Truelove, R.N., Board Member, American Nurses Association\California. “Patients with late-stage cancer, patients we thought were out of options, are in remission today. This research holds tremendous promise for other diseases. That’s why Prop 38 matters – we need to keep the research moving forward so more patients can have access.”

The timing is urgent. Uncertainty in federal research funding is shutting down clinical trials and delaying discoveries at the exact moment immunology science has momentum. At least 160 active clinical trials nationwide were affected by the termination of National Institutes of Health grants in 2025. In California, universities began curtailing biomedical research and delaying hiring as federal grants were terminated or withheld.

"As a researcher whose work was stopped in its tracks by funding cuts, I know firsthand that sustained investment in immunology is essential to delivering the next generation of life-saving treatments," said Jillian McCool, Ph.D., Biological Researcher and Immunologist. “Prop 38 will create a new, reliable source of funding so California can take the lead in medical research and move the promise of these cures forward.”

Prop 38 represents a new approach to medical research funding, creating a collaborative statewide network that combines competitive research grants with a world-class immunology institute designed to help turn discoveries into life-saving treatments and cures. Half of the funding will support competitive grants at California universities and nonprofit research institutions, while the other half will support a nonprofit immunology institute affiliated with the University of California that can bring together leading scientists, technology, laboratories, patients and clinical trials.

“There’s nothing like watching your parent deteriorate from a disease like Alzheimer’s,” said Viva Mogi, caregiver and volunteer with Alzheimer’s Los Angeles. “Prop 38 is bringing hope for millions of families like mine, and it does so in a way that includes the accountability Californians expect.”

Prop 38 is designed to pay for itself. Ten percent of all proceeds from the licensing of immunotherapies must be returned to California to offset the measure's total costs, including interest. Additionally, any cure or immunotherapy developed will be provided to California patients at a 20 percent discount below the national average. Prop 38 also includes strict accountability requirements, including:

- Two percent cap on state administrative expenses
- Public disclosure of spending
- Independent financial audits
- For-profit corporations are not eligible for grant funding

Learn more at YESon38.com, including a full coalition list and what supporters are saying.

Robin Swanson
YES on Prop 38
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