State performance in pluripotent and adult stem cell research, 2009-2016.

Aim: To examine how the geographic distribution of pluripotent and adult stem cell research publications within the USA differs from other areas of biomedical research.

Materials & Methods: Publication count data for pluripotent stem cell research, adult stem cell research and a comparison group representative of biomedical research more broadly were collected and analyzed for each US state from 2009 to 2016.

Results: The distribution of pluripotent stem cell research differed from the other fields with overperformance in pluripotent stem cell research observed in California, as well as Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Maryland and Connecticut.

Conclusion: Our analysis suggests that permissive state stem cell policy may be one of the several factors contributing to strong state performance in pluripotent stem cell research.