Dwindling NIH funds triggers research “crisis”

The drumbeat of criticism over the impact of flat-line budgets at the NIH on the U.S. research community continues to build. In a recent article for the Star-Ledger, scientists report that original grant funding for projects dropped from 30 percent in 1999 to 12 percent today. Established researchers are being forced to scramble to find the money needed for their projects while new scientists are often unable to launch projects. Research-oriented foundations are also feeling the heat. The Prostate Cancer Foundation was able to fund 63 out of 420 applications.

"There's just less and less discretionary funding," Stephen Heinig, lead science policy analyst at the Association of American Medical Colleges, tells the Star-Ledger. "I think we're going to weaken a lot of institutions. The saddest thing for me is thinking about the missed opportunities with research that never gets started. It's exceptionally frustrating."

- read the report from the Star-Ledger

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