Federal investment in basic research has been a key component to our nation’s economic success and to our long-standing history as global leader in innovation and discovery. It has led to medical and technological breakthroughs that have improved our quality of life, reduced human suffering, and treated and cured many devastating diseases. None of these achievements would have been possible without funding from federal science agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
NIH is the largest source of funding for medical research in the world. Eighty-five percent of the agency’s funds are distributed through competitive grants to more than 300,000 scientists employed at universities, medical schools, and other research institutions nation-wide. As a result of discoveries supported by NIH funding, U.S. death rates from heart disease and stroke have decreased by more than 60 percent over the last 50 years. NIH funding has also helped to identify the genes that are responsible for more than half of the 7,000 rare diseases known to affect humans. Future research will give us important insights into how they affect a range of chronic diseases including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
As a result of discoveries supported by NIH funding, U.S. death rates from heart disease and stroke have decreased by more than 60 percent over the last 50 years.
The NSF funds basic research across many disciplines and is the only federal research agency dedicated to advancing all fields of fundamental science and engineering. Two-hundred of the U.S. Nobel Laureates in the sciences received NSF funding over the course of their careers, including the 2013 winners in Physiology or Medicine, Chemistry, and Economics. NSF-funded researchers developed a new electron microscope that can detect the movement of atoms and molecules, which allows the observation of the fundamental transformations of matter. This exciting technology has immediate applications in the clean energy industry and the development of nanotechnology.
The VA Medical and Prosthetic Research Program is the primary federal research effort focused on improving healthcare for the nation’s veterans. VA-funded research has advanced our basic knowledge of disease mechanisms and detection and has led to the development of new treatments and therapies. For example, a VA-funded clinical trial proved it is possible to use a tracheostomy collar to wean patients off a ventilator four days faster than the alternative method of slowly decreasing lung air-pressure supply. Because caring for patients on ventilators is expensive and often takes place in specialized hospitals, reducing the number of days a patient is on a ventilator could potentially save long-term health care costs.
However, due to a decade of flat funding and the effects of sequestration, the budgets of the federal science agencies are shrinking. Over the past 11 years, NIH has lost $5.7 billion, and its purchasing power is now 21 percent less than it was in 2003. This, in turn, translates into fewer available awards. In 2013, NIH awarded 20 percent fewer research project grants than it did in 2003. Even more disconcerting, are the numbers associated with critical R01 grants, which have plummeted from 7,430 awarded in 2003 to 4,902 in 2013, a loss of 34 percent.
Due to a decade of flat funding and the effects of sequestration, the budgets of the federal science agencies are shrinking. In 2013, NIH awarded 20 percent fewer research project grants than it did in 2003.
NIH Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD, said in a recent Washington Post article, “Without sustained investment, many high-priority efforts would move at a substantially slower pace, and years of effectively flat funding for biomedical research have left scientists facing the lowest chances in history of having their research funded by NIH.” As a result, labs are closing, staff are being let go, and critical research is left unfunded and undiscovered.
Meanwhile, as the U.S. falls behind, other countries increase their investment in biomedical research. According to the National Science Board 2012 and 2014 Science and Engineering Indicators, between 1995 and 2011, the U.S. share of global Research & Development (R&D) expenditures declined from 43 percent to 36.9 percent, while China’s grew from 1.6 percent to 10.9 percent. Other nations that once strove to emulate U.S. success in R&D are now well on their way to surpassing us.
Although alternative funding sources such as private donors and industry help further research in the U.S., they are not enough to make up for where the science agencies fall short. Federal investment is critical because it supports research into basic processes that are used by the commercial sector for product development. Translating basic science into practical applications is an expensive, high-risk, and often decades-long process that does not fit the business plans of either industry or philanthropic groups.
Our future depends on the innovation and discovery that derives out of basic research. Congress must act now before further damage is done. Sustainable and increased investment in the basic sciences is the only path forward to continued improvements in global health and our nation’s economic competitiveness.
Allison Lea, MA, is a science writer for the Office of Public Affairs within the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). FASEB is composed of 26 societies with more than 120,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the United States.