Despite fears of massive cuts to vital Life Science and Bioscience research funding, the National Institutes of Health emerged relatively unscathed from the recent budget negotiations on Capitol Hill.
(image courtesy of the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center)
The new 2011 budget deal cuts NIH funding by only 1% or $300 million with $210 million in cuts spread across the 27 NIH institutes, $50 million cut from a buildings account, and the remaining $40 million cut from all non-defense agencies in the NIH.
Although budget cuts are always painful the $300 million in the new compromise is nothing compared to the proposed cuts in the previous house bill HR 1 which would have cut the NIH by a staggering $1.63 billion. Under HR 1 numerous projects would have lost funding and university research would have faced severe cutbacks.
Jennifer Zeitzer of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology called the budget deal "relatively good news," saying, “In the end, NIH gets by with a bruise instead of a gaping wound.”
Although the NIH managed to survive this round of the Budget controversy the possibility of more cuts is looming with the debate over the 2012 budget. Many congressmen, particularly in the Republican-controlled House, are urging even deeper cuts for the NIH in the 2012 budget.
Do you think the new NIH budget will significantly affect university research? Please comment below.
If you are interested in meeting and networking with University researchers who are pursuing NIH funded projects throughout the country attend one of Biotechnology Calendar, Inc.'s BioResearch Product Faires™ at a leading U.S. research university.