Saddled with a shrinking piece of the budgetary pie, heads of the nation's basic cancer research centers are struggling to maintain their high scientific standards while making ends meet. They worry that the frustration of stagnant funding levels will drive their best researchers to seek greener pastures. And they are concerned that, in the long run, the necessity of cutting costs will serve only to hinder scientific progress.
The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology in Philadelphia shares the woes of other basic science cancer centers: how to deal with an uncertain funding environment, given the increased push by federal funding agencies to support applied research.
Compounding matters, Wistar has had the added burden of a three-year legal battle over management issues with former director Hilary Koprowski, settled in June 1993. Although just three years ago Wistar faced a $2 million budget deficit and declining morale, today the staff credits ...
