2010-04-29
Francis Collins, the Director of the National Institutes
of Health (NIH), met with House appropriators on Wednesday to discuss
the NIH budget for the next fiscal year (FY). Both the White House and a proposed
Senate budget plan call for a freeze in discretionary non-defense spending, but
NIH is slated for a $1 billion increase to $32.2 billion, including $6 billion
for cancer research.
Dr.
Collins testified that NIH will face a financial
crisis in FY 2011 when a two-year allotment of $10.4 billion in stimulus
funding for research runs out.
"There
is no question that if you measure what happens in terms of success rates -
that is, what's the chance that an investigator who sends a grant into NIH is
going to actually get funded - that is going to be a tough number in FY '11,"
said Collins, who was making his first appearance as NIH director before the
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and
Education.
The
agency has sought to cushion the impact of the drop in funding, he said.
"Although
I would not tell you we are going to be completely successful in reducing the
consequences of this cliff, certainly some of the money funded by [the stimulus
legislation] has been for one-time expenditures," he told lawmakers.
Examples include fast-tracked two-year projects such as the cancer genome atlas
that will look at genetic changes involved in cancer, as well as construction
grants to build up researchers’ physical plants or to complete needed
renovations, he said.
"But
science is . . . not a 100-yard dash, it's a marathon - and two-year cycles are
really not the way that advances the curve," Collins said.
This
fiscal year, NIH has a $31 billion budget, not including about $5 billion
allocated through the stimulus package. In his FY 2011 budget proposal,
President Obama has called for an increase of $1
billion, for a total of $32 billion for NIH. That is an increase of about 3.2
percent, which matches the inflationary index for biomedical research, Collins
noted.
"Given
the very difficult economic times, the president's support of science and the
willingness to put forward a $1 billion increase for NIH is reflective of the
administration’s support for research and what it can do," Dr. Collins said.
"We are deeply grateful for that, because certainly it could have been
justified at a time of growing deficits to be even more conservative here in
terms of providing support."
The appropriators encouraged Dr. Collins to
return for help if needed, citing broad bipartisan support for biomedical
research.
ASH will continue its advocacy efforts on
Capitol Hill during the FY 2011 budget debate and encourages all members to
visit the ASH Advocacy
Center to take action to help influence the budget process and support
increased funding for NIH. Your senators and representatives need to hear
from you about ensuring adequate NIH funding in FY 2011.
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