Opinion: Private sector, philanthropy can’t replace Trump administration science cuts
Weak plans that propose alternatives to NIH funding are giving false hope to researchers.
The United States’ public health and biomedical research enterprise has arguably been the greatest effort of its kind in modern history, whether you measure it in Nobel Prizes, drugs developed, or patents granted. No other country comes close to this American achievement. For generations, it has been a boon for the health of all Americans and the world.
Yet this amazing example of American creativity and caring is now being destroyed. The administration has declared war on public health and bioscience research. Devastating attacks have been aimed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and particularly the National Institutes of Health. Currently $2.7 billion has been cut from the NIH budget, derailing vital research funding at universities and research institutions in every state. And this does not include the additional cuts to research institutions for the operating costs needed to maintain the research. Worse, there is the potential death blow of the massive 40% cut to NIH in the “big, beautiful bill” proposed for the next fiscal year. The health of all Americans is in peril, yet many are completely unaware.
