As most of us here are keenly aware, scientific funding over the past 8 years has been dismal. The Bush administration's anti-science/education stance has been detrimental to society in ways most Americans are not even aware of. Over their 8 years, scientific funding at the NIH was kept nearly stagnant in real dollar terms which of course when you factor in inflation meant a net decrease in NIH funding for the first time in history. The proposed budget demonstrates that the Obama administration will do exactly what it said it would do in terms of scientific funding, namely increase it, and do so in a dramatic fashion. More after the fold.
I thought I'd give some personal background as I'm fairly unknown around the website (mostly a lurker....eww). I've always been interested in science, however, my interest in cancer research was galvanized when my mother, grandmother, aunt, and even grandfather were diagnosed with breast cancer over a 9 month period. By the grace of whatever higher power you believe in (or luck for all you agnostics/atheists out there) all of them have pulled through and are still with us today. This experience, however, drove me to become a cancer researcher and I went graduate school at Duke University receiving my PhD in cancer biology last summer.
At this point, I'm sure most of you are like, "great story but what does this have to do with the budget? and why am I still reading this?" Well as I was finishing my PhD I needed to make a decision as to what to do with my life. Funding conditions over my tenure at Duke had been deteriorating so rapidly that first time submissions for RO1 grants (the driving force behind scientific research and a near prerequisite for a career as a researcher) had fallen from 29% in 1999 to 12% in 2007, according to a report from the NIH. Because of the conditions of the scientific community and a lack of funding, I determined that I could not enter a field frought with uncertainty and entered medical school instead.
OK, I'll stop talking about myself, but my story has been repeated over and over again by some of the smartest people I have had the pleasure of knowing. The brain drain that we hear so much about is not simply due to better education overseas, or a loss of scientific talent to foreign companies with friendlier scientific policies, but from many already in the scientific community leaving to do something else entirely.
Things appear to be changing dramatically over the past 30 days, however. First, tucked in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was something that very few outside of the scientific community noticed. There was a provision for $10.4 billion to go to the NIH directly. The director of the NIH states that this money will go to:
$8.2 billion in support of scientific research priorities
$7.4 billion is transferred to the Institutes and Centers and Common Fund(CF), based on a percentage-based formula
$800 million to the Office of the Director (OD) (not including CF)
(For example, support for Challenge Grants), a program designed to focus on health and science problems where progress can be expected in two years.
To support additional scientific research-related activities that also align with the overall purposes of the Act
$1 billion to support Extramural Construction, Repairs, and Alterations
Allocated to the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) in support of all NIH funded research institutions
$300 million Shared Instrumentation and other capital equipment
Allocated to NCRR to support all NIH activities
$500 million for NIH buildings and facilities
To fund high priority repair, construction and improvement projects on NIH campuses that also align with the overall purpose of the Act
$400 million for Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER)
Many types of funding mechanisms will be supported, but, in general, NIH will focus scientific activities in several areas:
Furthermore he goes on to say at http://www.nih.gov/...
We will choose among recently peer reviewed, highly meritorious R01 and similar mechanisms capable of making significant advances with a two-year grant. R01 are projects proposed directly from scientists across the country. We will also fund new R01 applications that have a reasonable expectation of making progress in a two-year grant.
We will accelerate the tempo of ongoing science through targeted supplements to current grants. For example, we may competitively expand the scope of current research awards or supplement an existing award with additional support for infrastructure (e.g., equipment) that will be used in the two-year availability of these funds.
NIH anticipates supporting new types of activities that fit into the structure of the Recovery Act. It will support a reasonable number of awards to jump start the new NIH Challenge Grant program. This program is designed to focus on health and science problems where progress can be expected in two years. The number of awards and amount of funds will be determined, based on the scientific merit and the quality of applications.
This money will supplement the ~$30 billion budget for the NIH for fiscal year 2009, increasing it by one third. It will directly aid researchers, and will allow for the funding of countless new grants, which will lead to new discoveries that directly impact our lives.
As good as this was for the NIH, it was only a temporary infusion of money which would have expired in September of 2010. This would have been disastrous for researchers who received new grants. Those that had been funded for grants from the ARRA money would have found it extremely difficult to renew those grants without further increases in funding for the NIH in subsequent years.
That brings us to today's news. When the Obama administration released the planned budget for fiscal year 2009, they included in the Health and Human Services Department a $6 billion increase in cancer research funding for the NIH. One of the promises Obama campaigned on was increasing funding for cancer research and he has kept his word on this promise. Importantly, as this is part of the budget, this funding will likely be continued into the future allowing the NIH to spend some of the money now being taken up by cancer research on other worthy scientific pursuits.
Now, many here have issues with much of what the Obama administration has done or not done over their first month in office. However, from the standpoint of science, they have proven that their actions in office will match their rhetoric while on the campaign trail and that is....wait for it....change we can believe in. After years of attempting to marginalize, demonize and bankrupt the scientific community it is extremely refreshing to have the president pay attention to a community which provides most of the ideas for innovation in health care, pharmaceuticals, and other related health care fields. Our investment in scientific research is one which will pay for itself many times over and for that I applaud the Obama administrations efforts.