Ask the Expert Video: Rick Weiss on the Downward Slope of Biomed Research Funding
One of the most most perverse effects of the constricting funding situation for the National Institutes of Health is the fact it will likely delay cures that are on the immediate horizon. Moreover, as Weiss described in his recent column asking “Where’s the Biomed Bailout?,” the flat-funding of the NIH since 2004 hasn’t really been flat. In fact, he reminds readers that “the NIH research budget has actually now dipped to an inflation-adjusted level about 13 percent less than it was five years ago,” according to the AAAS. And to top it all off, the extreme difficultly of securing a first-time research grant is sending young scientists packing for jobs in other sectors.
Building on his previous analysis, Weiss filmed an Ask the Expert video with our colleagues at the Center for American Progress. Congress needs to step up next year, says Weiss, with a minimum of $2 billion in additional funding for the NIH so that we can reap the benefits of prior investments.
Watch Weiss:
Transcript available here.
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