By Kritika Agarwal
A recent Senate Appropriations Committee hearing demonstrated bipartisan support on Capitol Hill for maintaining robust levels of federal funding for biomedical research and innovation.
The Wednesday, April 30 hearing, “Biomedical Research: Keeping America’s Edge in Innovation,” focused on how funding uncertainties and layoffs at the National Institutes of Health and other health research agencies are threatening patient care, advancements in medicine, and the United States’ ability to compete with China.
In her opening statement, Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) noted that the hearing “speaks to the highest priority that this committee places on biomedical research.” She continued: “There is no investment that pays greater dividends to American families than our investment in this research, which can lead to life-saving and life-enhancing discoveries.”
Collins cautioned, however, that the country’s unmatched leadership in health research, which has led to hundreds of new cancer treatments and advancements in understanding Alzheimer’s and dementia, is not guaranteed to last forever. “Proposed funding cuts, the firing of essential federal scientists, and policy uncertainties threaten to undermine the foundation for our nation’s global leadership,” she said.
Collins called on the administration to reverse some of its recent actions, including its “abrupt cancelation of grants” and “unilateral imposition of an arbitrary 15% indirect cost cap on NIH grants in February.” Collins argued that, “while some reform of the facilities and administrative system may be merited,” the administration’s proposed “one-size-fits-all cap will be extremely harmful to many institutions and the people who benefit from their work.”
The committee heard from several witnesses, including American Association for the Advancement of Science Chief Executive Officer Sudip Parikh; University of Alabama O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Director Barry Sleckman; and Emily Stenson, a patient advocate and mom whose five-year-old daughter benefited from advancements in pediatric cancer research.
Parikh called the senators’ attention to several near-term challenges facing the American biomedical and research innovation system, including the potential rescission of funds allocated for spending in FY25, the possibility of catastrophic funding cuts in FY26 (the president has proposed an almost 40% cut to the NIH budget in his FY26 discretionary budget request), haphazard changes to agency organizational structures, and the cap on indirect costs.
Parikh also pointed out how current uncertainties and funding cuts are affecting early-career scientists. “We are sending a message to the next generation of early-career scientists and engineers that the future of the U.S. research enterprise is not just in question – it is bleak,” he said, adding: “In fact, I have spoken with undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral researchers who are worried about whether they should even continue their scientific pursuits or switch careers. And mid-career and senior scientists are also questioning their role in contributing to the U.S. research enterprise.”
Several senators, including Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), also voiced concerns that NIH funding uncertainties are hampering the training of the next generation of biomedical researchers and discouraging students from becoming scientists, to the detriment of our nation. Sen. Murkowski spoke about her nephew, an undergraduate student at Marquette University, who is worried about his future as a researcher and the future of ALS research. “We are dealing with unprecedented hits to the NIH and to those who have given their all to be there for others,” she said.
Finally, the hearing focused on the hope that medical research provides to millions of Americans. “There is not one American, not one, that does not benefit from the research that takes place in the search for that cure or treatment for disease and affliction,” said Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS). “Medical research provides hope.”
Kritika Agarwal is senior editorial officer at AAU.