NIH funding refers to the budget, annually provided by the National Institute of Health (NIH), located in the US, to support medical and biomedical research. According to NIH, it invests more than $48 billion annually in medical research in order to seek solutions that help people live longer and healthier. In general, NIH – funded research has achieved breakthroughs as well as new treatments, helping lots of people’s lives.
Budget cuts
Where do these funding cuts come from? They all come from the Trump administration, which leads to the notice of updated policy released by the NIH on February 7th. It mentions that the imposed cuts would limit the “indirect costs” ( facilities, administration, maintenance cost, etc) from the NIH to 15%, which was far lower than the previous budget, ranging from 28% to 60%. This news is shocking to research institutions and universities in the US, putting them in a complete state of terror.
What does it mean for research institutes and universities?
So, having received the notice, what are the reactions? Fear (of losing research prospects) and shock ( of what is truly happening in front of their eyes), of course. When they got the notice firsthand, they didn’t accept the fact that the NIH funding was actually limited to 15%.In an article by NBC, they quote Rick Huganir, a neuroscientist at John Hopkins University emailing his friend, who got the NIH notice, in disbelief: “Am I reading this right, 15%?” and then worried that this could have a devastating impact on years of research. In another case, The Guardian quotes Neil Rudestine, a former president at Harvard University and provost at Yale University. “It’s a devastating proposal. It would be a totally disastrous thing if it actually happens”.
Their reactions varied, but they all worry about one common thing: the future of medical research. Obviously, lowering the funding means decreasing job opportunities and devastation of the research field. The chances for both national and international students are becoming less and less competitive due to the inability of research experience provision coming from restricted budgets for financial research projects. Specifically, in the research field, the NIH funding cuts can lead to numerous consequences, as AAMC president and CEO Dr. David J. Skorton and Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Elena Fuentes-Afflick said in a joint statement: “Slower scientific progress, longer waits for cures, fewer jobs.” In other words, the progress of this field will be affected, struggling to produce new cures and treatments for everyone. Additionally, less employees means more workloads, which is a tricky task for the remaining employees.
Effort To Halt
After the notice of NIH’s funding cuts was updated, there were massive and rapid responses to this notice. On February 10th, In the midst of the chaos, states and research institutions browsed for lawsuits within the updated policy on a temporary hold. These lawsuits were filed by 22 state attorney generals, the Association of American Universities and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). There was a small detail in the lawsuit that concerns AAU. “Smaller institutions will not be able to sustain any research at all and could close entirely”.
As a result, on the same day, the effort to cease the cuts was reciprocated. A judge from the US District Court of Massachusetts granted a Temporary Restriction Order (TRO) on the cases of the state attorneys and AAMC. Until now, the Federal Court is continuing to block NIH funding cuts, helping research institutions and universities get over their problems.
The tide has not settled yet
At the moment, all the research institutions and universities are still safe from the threat of the NIH’s funding cuts thanks to the Federal Court. However, will they be safe in the next following weeks? The answer lies in how they choose to respond to this “financial burden”. As the 47th President of the United States Donald Trump takes the lead, the future ahead is still covered with lots of uncertainties and surprises.
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