The NIH (Budget) Threatened (Even More)... US To Get Further Behind In Biomedical Research, IMO!

[HuckleB]

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2011/02/the_nih_threatened.php

"As most of you know, most of the basic and translational biomedical research in the U.S. is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Unfortunately, the NIH budget has been stagnant for the last five or six years. That's been bad enough, leading to a decline in funding success rates for applicants for research grants to a low level that we haven't seen in nearly 20 years. Worse, even though FY2011 started October 1, the federal government still doesn't have a real budget. It's operating on a continuing resolution. While this plays havoc with all government agencies, it's particularly bad at the NIH, where funding levels have dropped to the 7th percentile or lower (7% of grant applications funded), because, not knowing what its final budget is going to be, the NIH gets very conservative, and there's no guarantee that the funding will get better even once the FY2011 budget is finally passed. I experienced this very thing six years ago, when funding levels dropped precipitously from the 21st percentile to the 16th percentile, which should give you an idea how much the situation has deteriorated since then.

...

For months the new House leadership has been promising to cut billions in federal funding in fiscal year (FY) 2011. Later this week the House will try to make the rhetoric a reality by voting on HR 1, a "continuing resolution" (CR) that would cut NIH funding by $1.6 billion (5.2%) BELOW the current level - reducing the budget for medical research to $29.4 billion!

...

But it's worse than that. It's not just the NIH. It's nearly every major government science agency ( http://scienceblogs.com/catdynamics/2011/02/action_urgent.php ), and, because the cut would come in the middle of the year, after half of the budget has already been spent, these proposed cuts are in essence double the numbers. At least, that would be the effect.

...

I know Congress can be short-sighted, but what the House of Representatives proposes to do is astonishing for how much damage it would do for so little budget savings."


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I know. I know. "It's just science." Who needs it, right? (And, yes, I know they're going after many other very necessary budget items. I am not dismissing that reality.) It really does seem like some want this country to go backwards, and I mean way back(wards).

:mad:

[originalpckelly]

1. We can blow people up...

but try to save some lives with biomedical research, and what do you get? The same old shit 5/6 years in a row.

This government needs to get its priorities in order.

[HuckleB]

3. Exactly! -eom-

[d_r]

2. it confounds a worse situation for science

Almost every state has slashed funding to higher education for the past several years. Most public universities have had hiring freezes, pay freezes, and many have cut faculty lines. As the percentage of public funding has dropped, the cost of tuition has increased. But even with cuts to costs by freezing salaries and cutting positions, the increases in tuition have not been enough to keep up with the cuts in funding. So most universities have stressed outside funding through research grants even more - basically there are only so many ways for a university to bring in money - public funds, tuition, donations/alumni giving, and contracts and grants. Many now put more emphasis on research expenditures than on publication (of course publication is necessary for obtaining a grant in the first place). So there has been increased pressure on that outside grant funding, but even as more try to dip in the watering hole, the pool is shrinking.

[HuckleB]

7. We sure do love to shoot ourselves in the foot over and over again.

[andym]

4. Really stupid policy

America's science and biomedical research provide American high tech industries with an important advantage that the GOP is endangering in the interests of ideology and simpleminded economic theories.

[HuckleB]

8. +1

[slipslidingaway]

5. knr nt

[Modern_Matthew]

6. And I was just saying the other day that funding to the NIH...

Should be tripled. Sigh.