Research groups angry as NIH funding stays flat

Research groups were left shaking their heads in disappointment over news that next year's budget for the National Institutes of Health--the largest single supporter of biomedical research in the U.S.--will boost spending by a meager 0.5 percent. A burst of budget increases occurred between 1999 and 2003, followed by years of anemic increases. This latest budget comes at a time that inflation in biomedical research is rolling along at about 3.7 percent per year.

For research groups like the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, it all adds up to a "war against science" by the administration. The FASEB had been lobbying hard for a 6.7 percent hike for 2008 to 2010 in order to make up for the flat funding record of recent years. Lawmakers who agreed were unable to counter Bush's veto threat.

"What we're going to see is less research, a slowing down of certain research programs," David Moore, senior associate vice president for government relations for the Assn. of American Medical Colleges, told American Medical News. "It's a slowing of medical progress."

- read the report from American Medical News

ALSO: The Europeans, meanwhile, are boosting research spending under the Innovative Medicines Initiative. Report

PLUS: The funding comes with an interesting proviso: To qualify for grants, scientists will have to make their research papers available for free at Pub Med. Report

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