TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Federal funding for medical research has dropped by roughly $1 billion this year, raising alarm among universities, medical centers and lawmakers who warn the shortfall could slow progress in cancer, diabetes and heart disease research.
The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) grant review process was also disrupted when the Trump administration suddenly canceled scheduled funding meetings due to a temporary communications freeze.
Some of those meetings have since resumed, but experts warn that delays could impede new research projects.
The drop in funding comes amid administrative delays and policy changes under the Trump administration, including a controversial move to cut NIH payments for research facility and administrative costs.
A federal judge in Massachusetts temporarily blocked those cuts, pending upcoming hearings.
The NIH awarded about $2.5 billion in grants in the first six weeks of 2024, federal records show. This year, that number has plummeted to $1.4 billion — hundreds of millions of dollars lower than the amount awarded in the same timeframe over the past six years.
“The president has completely stopped funding for research that discovers cures for diseases that devastate families across the country, like cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, all so he can give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations,” U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), said in a statement.
“Make no mistake, their efforts to rob Peter to pay Paul means crushing families’ hopes and dreams of having cures,” she added.
The NIH typically distributes roughly $36 billion in grants annually. The funding supports groundbreaking research in such areas as gene therapy, immune-based cancer treatments, cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease.
Without full funding, experts warn that vital projects could be delayed or stopped altogether.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) attempted to restore NIH funding to previously agreed-upon levels through a budget bill, but the effort failed on a party-line vote.
“Trump and Elon — either through sheer ignorance or a genuine lack of caring — are putting lifesaving research in America on life support,” Murray said in a statement, referring to billionaire Elon Musk and his reported influence on White House budget decisions.
Musk heads the Trump-created U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which has slashed funding and staff in several federal departments and agencies.
What’s more, the administration has also faced internal turmoil at the NIH, with two high-ranking officials suddenly resigning and the agency still lacking a permanent director.
Meanwhile, Trump’s nominee to head the NIH, Stanford professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, is preparing for Senate confirmation hearings in the coming weeks.
The uncertainty at the NIH comes as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new secretary of health and human services (HHS), has suggested he wants to back off on infectious disease research and focus more on chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease. NIH is part of Kennedy’s department.
The New York Times reported that the proposed cuts in medical research have raised deep concerns among recipient institutions.
“If the federal government cuts its investment, we will have to scale back on research, and cutting-edge science will be cut short,” Dean Madden, the vice provost for research at Dartmouth’s medical school, said at a news conference Friday, according to The New York Times.
“You don’t know what discoveries won’t be made as a result, but they might include a cure for some childhood cancer or treatment for Alzheimer’s or dozens of other diseases that are afflicting patients across our country,” Madden added.
More information
SOURCES: The New York Times, media report, Feb. 14, 2025; U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, statement, Feb. 14, 2025: U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, statement, Feb. 15, 2025
