Contributor: Slashing NIH research guarantees a less healthy, less wealthy America
Amid this volatility, one thing remains clear: NIH grant funding is a valuable, proven investment, economically and in terms of improving human health.
A recent United for Medical Research report shows that in fiscal year 2024, research funded by the NIH generated $94.58 billion in economic activity nationwide, a 156% return on investment. Further, the report shows that NIH funding supported 407,782 jobs nationwide. According to the NIH's own figures, patents derived from work it has funded produce 20% more economic value than other U.S. patents.
These economic returns — including a return on investment that would thrill any startup or stock investor — cannot begin to capture the impact on individuals, families and communities in terms of increased longevity and higher quality of life.
While it is hard to precisely quantify human health improvements resulting from NIH-funded research, there are proxy measures. As one example, a study published in JAMA Health Forum found that NIH funding supported the development of 386 of 387 drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration from 2010-19. Many of the approved drugs address the most pressing human health concerns of our time, including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases and neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease.
Many other NIH-funded advancements represent what is now considered common knowledge, such as the relationship between cholesterol and cardiovascular health, or standard practice, such as screening newborns for serious diseases that may be treatable with early medical intervention. But each of these fundamental aspects of contemporary medicine had to first be discovered, tested and proved. They represent what NIH funding can do — and the type of paradigm-shifting advancements in medicine that are now very much at risk.
Consider the biotechnology industry as one such paradigm shift. In the 1970s, Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer were the first scientists to clone DNA and to transplant genes from one living organism to another. This work launched the biotechnology industry.
Two decades later, the NIH and the Department of Energy began a 13-year effort to sequence the human genome, including through university-based research grants. In 2003, the consortium of researchers produced a sequence accounting for 92% of the human genome. In 2022, a group of researchers primarily funded by the NIH's National Human Genome Research Institute produced a complete human genome sequence. This work paved the way for insights into inherited diseases, pharmacogenomics (how genetics affect the body's response to medications) and precision medicine.
NIH funding has also led to major breakthroughs in cancer treatments. In 1948, Sidney Farber demonstrated the first use of a chemotherapy drug, aminopterin, to induce remission in children with acute leukemia. Before Farber's research, which was funded in part by the NIH, children with acute leukemia were unlikely to survive even five years.
Over the years that followed, other modes of cancer treatment such as immunotherapy emerged, first as novel areas of inquiry, followed by drug development and clinical trials. NIH funding supported, among others, the development of CAR T cell therapy, which genetically modifies a patients' own T-cells to fight cancer. CAR T cell therapy has improved outcomes for many patients with persistent blood cancers, and clinical trials are ongoing to discover other cancers that might be treatable with CAR T cell therapies.
For decades, scientists knew that breast cancer could run in families and hypothesized a genetic role. In the 1990s, teams of scientists — supported at least in part by NIH funding — tracked down the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes responsible for inherited predispositions to breast and other cancers. Today, many people undergo testing for BRCA gene mutations to make informed decisions about prevention, screening and treatment.
These kinds of advancements, along with improvements in detection and screening, have meaningfully reduced cancer mortality rates. After hitting a smoking-related peak in 1991, U.S. mortality rates from all cancers dropped by 34% as of 2022, according to the American Cancer Society. For children with acute leukemias, who had effectively no long-term chance of survival just 75 years ago, the numbers are even more dramatic. The five-year survival rate is now approximately 90% for children with acute lymphocytic leukemia and between 65% and 70% for those with acute myelogenous leukemia.
These examples represent a fraction of the tremendous progress that has occurred through decades of compounding knowledge and research. Reductions in NIH funding now threaten similar breakthroughs that are the prerequisites to better care, better technology and better outcomes in the most common health concerns and diseases of our time.
It is not research alone that is threatened by NIH funding cuts. Researchers, too, face new uncertainties. We have heard firsthand the anxiety around building a research career in the current environment. Many young physician-scientists wonder whether it will be financially viable to build their own lab in the U.S., or to find jobs at research institutions that must tighten their belts. Many medical residents, fellows and junior faculty are considering leaving the U.S. to train and build careers elsewhere. Losing early-career researchers to other fields or countries would be a blow to talent for biomedical research institutions nationwide and weaken the country's ability to compete globally in the biomedical sector.
The effects of decreased NIH funding might not be immediately visible to most Americans, but as grant cancellations and delays mount, there will be a price. NIH funding produces incredible results. Cuts will set scientific research back and result in losses in quality of life and longevity for generations of Americans in years to come.
Euan Ashley is the chair of the Stanford University department of medicine and a professor of medicine and of genetics. He is the author of 'The Genome Odyssey: Medical Mysteries and the Incredible Quest to Solve Them.' Rachel Keranen is a writer in the Stanford department of medicine.
If it's in the news right now, the L.A. Times' Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Newsweek
30 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Smart Speakers Like Alexa and Google Assistant Could Tell if You Have Parkinson's
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A new AI-powered, speech-based screening tool could help people assess whether they are showing signs of Parkinson's disease at home. Developed as part of a study by University of Rochester computer scientists, the web-based test asks users to recite two pangrams, short sentences using every letter of the alphabet. In just seconds, the AI can analyze the voice recordings to look for subtle patterns linked to Parkinson's—with nearly 86 percent accuracy. The researchers believe such a tool could be implemented as a feature in popular speech-based interfaces like Amazon Alexa or Google Home (with users consent). Parkinson's is typically diagnosed by specially trained neurologists through a combination of examinations, brain imaging and family history. While the new tool is not intended to be a replacement for a clinical diagnosis, the researchers see it as a fast, low-barrier and accessible way to flag people who might have the disease and encourage them to seek thorough clinical evaluation. Man connecting Alexa-like device to phone at home. Man connecting Alexa-like device to phone at 1.1 million people in the U.S. are living with Parkinson's disease, expected to rise to 1.2 million by 2030, according to Parkinson's Foundation. Nearly an estimated 90,000 people are diagnosed across the country each year, making it the second-most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's. While incidence increases with age, some four percent of people are diagnosed before 50. "There are huge swaths of the U.S. and across the globe where access to specialized neurological care is limited," said Rochester computer science professor Ehsan Hoque in a statement. "With users' consent, widely used speech-based interfaces like Amazon Alexa or Google Home could potentially help people identify if they need to seek further care." Most people living with Parkinson's in the U.S. seek their care from neurologists, with approximately 50 percent seeing a community neurologist and 9 percent seeing a movement disorders specialist, a previous Parkinson's Foundation study found. However, nearly 40 percent of people with the disease do not see a neurologist for their care but see a primary care provider (29 percent) or no provider (11 percent.) Home speaker device. Home speaker device. fabioderby/Getty Images To train and validate the new tool the researchers collected data from more than 1,300 participants—with and without Parkinson's—across home care settings, clinical settings at the University of Rochester Medical Center and the InMotion Parkinson's disease care center in Ohio. Using their computer's microphone, participants were asked to read aloud the following sentences: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The dog wakes up and follows the fox into the forest, but again the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." By utilizing advanced semi-supervised audio models trained on millions of digital recordings to understand the characteristics of speech, the tool can obtain enough vocal cues from the short sentences to flag warning signs. "For example, the way someone with Parkinson's would utter sounds, pause, breathe, and inadvertently add features of unintelligibility is different in someone without Parkinson's," explained paper author and computer science master's degree student Abdelrahman Abdelkader in a statement. The tool was 85.7 percent accurate when tested, providing a strong indication of whether someone may have Parkinson's, according to the study authors. Woman using Google Nest-like device at home. Woman using Google Nest-like device at well as speech, some people can display signs of Parkinson's through motor movement tasks or facial expressions. Over the past decade, this has led Hoque's lab to pursue algorithms to combine multiple indicators with state-of-the-art results. "Research shows that nearly 89 percent of people with Parkinson's have a deformity in their voice that can be indicative of the disease, making speech a strong starting point for digital screening," said paper author and computer scientist Tariq Adnan in a statement. "By combining this method with assessments of other symptoms, we aim to cover the majority of people through our accessible screening process." An interactive, browser-based demonstration of the lab's three screening tests, including this new speech test, is available to try out at home here. Newsweek has reached out to the study authors for more information. Do you have a health story to share with Newsweek? Do you have a question about Parkinson's? Let us know via health@ References Adnan, T., Abdelkader, A., Liu, Z., Hossain, E., Park, S., Islam, M. S., & Hoque, E. (2025). A novel fusion architecture for detecting Parkinson's Disease using semi-supervised speech embeddings. Npj Parkinson's Disease, 11(1), 176. Pearson, C., Hartzman, A., Munevar, D., Feeney, M., Dolhun, R., Todaro, V., Rosenfeld, S., Willis, A., & Beck, J. C. (2023). Care access and utilization among medicare beneficiaries living with Parkinson's disease. Npj Parkinson's Disease, 9(1), 108.


Politico
30 minutes ago
- Politico
14 Republican senators urge White House to release delayed NIH funds
It's the latest example of Republican pushback against the Trump administration's pattern of withholding money for any variety of programs that lawmakers have previously approved for a specific purpose. The Republican senators stressed in their letter they shared Vought's 'commitment to ensuring NIH funds are used responsibly and not diverted to ideological or unaccountable programs.' They also expressed their confidence in Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and NIH director Jay Bhattacharya, writing, 'Our shared goal is to restore public trust in the NIH precisely because its work is focused on results, accountability, and real-world impact.' But, they added, 'Withholding or suspending these funds would jeopardize that trust and hinder progress on critical health challenges facing our nation. Ultimately, this is about finding cures and seeing them through to fruition.' The NIH is the top funder of biomedical research in the country. The University of Alabama is also major recipient of NIH funding and is the top employer in Britt's home state. Among the signers of the letter is Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins of Maine and several other appropriations subcommittee chairs: Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Jerry Moran of Kansas and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Other signatures are Sens. John Boozman or Arkansas, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Todd Young of Indiana.


The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
Gaza situation beyond ‘worst fears,' Australia says amid mass starvation
The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is beyond the world's 'worst fears,' Australia's government said Friday, as reports of mass starvation and disease across the war-torn enclave persist. 'The situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world's worst fears. The position of the Australian Government is clear: every innocent life matters,' Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement. 'Every Israeli. Every Palestinian. This conflict has stolen far too many innocent lives.' 'Tens of thousands of civilians are dead, children are starving,' he continued. 'Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel's denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children, seeking access to water and food cannot be defended or ignored.' Albanese added, 'We call on Israel to comply immediately with its obligations under international law. This includes allowing the United Nations and NGOs to carry out their lifesaving work safely and without hindrance.' After a temporary ceasefire ended between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, Israeli officials blocked the delivery of aid to the Gaza from March to May. Since then, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), supported by Israel, has distributed aid to some areas of the strip overseen by the Jewish State. The organization, also backed by the U.S. government, has distributed over 90 million meals to Palestinians in Gaza since May, according to the State Department. Still, the food pickup sites are dangerous, as hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, with the Israeli military at times firing live ammunition for crowd control. The Israeli military has argued that the aid distribution system is set up to bar Hamas from stealing food and the country's officials have pinned the blame of Palestinian suffering on Hamas. Israel was also criticized by Canada and the United Kingdom, with Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney arguing that Israel's control of aid distribution 'must be replaced by comprehensive provision of humanitarian assistance led by international organizations.' 'Many of these are holding significant Canadian-funded aid which has been blocked from delivery to starving civilians. This denial of humanitarian aid is a violation of international law,' Carney said Thursday in a statement. The statements come as France's President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that France will soon recognize Palestinian statehood, becoming the first Group of Seven (G7) nation to do so. Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, a U.S.-government-designated terrorist group, fell apart as President Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said the administration is looking at alternative options to free the hostages from Hamas. 'It is a shame that Hamas has acted in this selfish way,' Witkoff said Thursday. 'We are resolute in seeking an end to this conflict and a permanent peace in Gaza.' The conflict ignited after Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel, killing some 1,200 Israelis and taking roughly 250 hostages. Since then, the Israeli military has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials. The tally does distinguish between civilians and combatants.