The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget has been trimmed before, but never at once by the amount proposed by the Trump administration last week. Although experts say it is unlikely, the agency stands to lose nearly 20 percent of its budget if the White House plan is approved?
First-time NIH grant applicants and other early-career researchers would likely be affected most, said Robert Cook-Deegan of Arizona State University. “NIH is particularly vulnerable [to the cuts] because . . . 75 to 80 percent of NIH’s budget is pre-allocated ever year, because it’s carried over from grants that have already been given.”
In early 2013, the NIH budget was reduced by around 5 percent as a result of federal sequestration. The agency at that time funded fewer investigators, leading many scientists to seek private grant support.
However it shakes out, any substantial cut to the agency’s budget could really ...
