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Norman Sharpless on NIH Funding: No 38% Cut, Continued Support Ahead

Norman Sharpless/cancer.gov

Sep 8, 2025, 15:28

Norman Sharpless on NIH Funding: No 38% Cut, Continued Support Ahead

Norman Sharpless, Managing Director at Jupiter Bioventures and Professor of Cancer Policy and Innovation at UNC School of Medicine, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“As we await the Senate LHHS markup numbers for NIH and NCI, let me relay an observation I have been re-telling a lot in recent weeks.

In my first year at NCI, POTUS’ budget had a 25% CUT to NCI, and Congress gave us a $300M increase. In my last year in government, POTUS’ budget (‘Moonshot 2.0’) had a massive INCREASE, and Congress gave us a flat budget (essentially a CUT). So the R^2 between the POTUS budget and what Congress actually appropriates is very low.

I can’t help but feel that some of these academic institutions that are sharply cutting staff because of worries about future NIH funding are overreacting to the recent President’s budget (37% cut).

The POTUS budget is a political document, but I remain cautiously optimistic about NIH and NCI prospects because biomedical research (esp. cancer research) is VERY popular with Congress and the American public, and is an excellent use of federal funds. We’ll see what the Senate does soon….

Follow-up: Senate markup is out. Per Sen. Murray’s remarks, the NIH is +$400M from FY25. I have heard unconfirmed +$150M for NCI. This is a promising start, but it is just the opening salvo in the Appropriations process. We’ll have to wait to see what the House does after recess.”

Sharpless reshared his earlier post, adding:

“To continue with my thread on FY26 NIH funding, we now have this out from the House: $48Bn for the NIH in FY26, almost the exact same amount as the Senate.

Needless to say, not a 38% cut, and I hope American institutions that are firing researchers because of ‘uncertainties about NIH funding’ will stop doing that. Many thanks to Rep. Cole for his continued strong support for the NIH, NCI, and American biomedical research.