Research!America Statement: Research Community Unites in Support of Federally Funded Research
Arlington, VA – Research!America, a nonprofit medical and health research alliance, this week sent leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees a letter signed by 600 organizations and more than 3,500 people across the country speaking with a unified voice in support of the National Institutes of Health.
Specifically, the letter requests that as appropriations leaders negotiate final Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations legislation, they provide at least the $1.77 billion increase for NIH that was proposed in the bipartisan Senate FY25 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill. The letter asks for an additional $500 million for NIH in the event that the federal government remains flat-funded under a “Continuing Resolution.” Additionally, it calls for the inclusion of provisions from previous appropriations bills that prevent the Department of Health and Human Services from making abrupt changes to the portion of NIH grants that help cover “facilities and administrative” costs.
On Feb. 7, the administration announced that it would change NIH reimbursement from negotiated percentages to a blanket 15% rate across most NIH grantee organizations. Without sufficient funding to help maintain the basic day-to-day operations of research labs, individual research projects will have no home and medical progress will inevitably slow. The administration’s action, which was temporarily blocked by a federal judge on Feb. 10 and again on Feb. 21, would drain at least $4 billion from U.S. research capacity.
“Congress and the Trump Administration should absolutely consider whether there are ways to strengthen U.S. science & technology, but this abrupt change in the level of federal support for medical research is a major step in the opposite direction,” said Research!America President and CEO Mary Woolley.
The letter was signed by 248 national and local patient organizations, 327 academic institutions, independent research institutions, scientific and medical societies, and affiliated organizations, as well as 25 companies.
“People want medical progress, and they want our nation to lead that progress,” Woolley said. “It is a strong statement that so many patient advocacy organizations joined research institutions and individuals from across the nation in support of NIH,” she said.
“We ask Congress and the Trump Administration to reaffirm our nation’s determination to sustain and bolster NIH’s ability to combat diseases robbing the American people of time, independence, and hope.”