Julie Gralow, Chief Medical Officer of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“The Cancer Brain Drain: A Threat to Scientific Leadership and Future Cures
America is facing a burgeoning cancer ‘brain drain’- the loss of its brightest minds in research. Unstable and unpredictable federal research funding is driving talented scientists away from their critical work, causing them to seek opportunities with international competitors or abandon the field entirely. This loss threatens to unravel our hard-won progress and puts the future of cancer treatment in jeopardy.
Developing complex cancer breakthroughs takes time and requires steady, long-term investments. Transforming once deadly diagnoses into manageable, and in some cases, curable conditions doesn’t happen without decades of unwavering federal support for countless clinical trials, scientific studies and researchers. Yet as we begin 2026, the world’s pre-eminent cancer research institution, the National Cancer Institute, is still operating at FY24 levels due to ongoing continuing resolutions. Grant rates for early-career scientists are now at a record low. Only one in 25 grants is being funded.
Our international competitors, including Canada, China, France, and Germany, have taken note and are heavily investing to recruit our top researchers. Canada alone has pledged over $1 billion to attract this talent. These efforts are likely to succeed; a Nature poll found that 75% of American scientists are considering leaving the country due to disruptions in federal funding.
This scarcity risks a mass migration of top talent to other countries and will no doubt slow innovation in the US as federal agencies and scientists alike eschew riskier projects in favor of more established ones. We now chance losing a generation of talent, and with them, the fresh ideas fundamental to American scientific advancement.
As a breast cancer oncologist and Chief Medical Officer of ASCO, I have seen firsthand how federal research funding transforms lives and fuels careers. When I was starting out, I had the remarkable opportunity to work in a Stanford lab developing monoclonal antibodies—a revolutionary idea at the time and an experience that cemented my path as a cancer researcher. Later, I worked on a project at the University of Washington focused on the oncogene HER2 and saw how early lab discoveries could lead directly to new treatments for breast cancer. These foundational experiences, fueled by federal grants, laid the groundwork for my career, just as similar federal research grants have fostered the careers of other cancer researchers and led to remarkable advances.
Today, more than 18 million Americans are cancer survivors, up from 3 million in the 1970s, and the cancer mortality rate has decreased by a third in the last 30 years. Once-deadly diagnoses like childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia and testicular cancer now boast 5-year survival rates exceeding 90%. And breast cancer treatment has evolved from a near universal regimen of radical mastectomies, chemotherapy, and radiation to targeted treatments that match each patient’s specific cancer, potentially sparing patients undue physical and emotional pain while still saving their lives. All thanks to federally funded discoveries.
Yet, despite all the progress, much more needs to be done. Last year, an estimated 618,000 Americans died of cancer. Many cancers still have few effective treatments, and most can’t be detected early, when treatment is most effective. Young researchers today are working tirelessly to discover the next breakthrough that will revolutionize cancer care and save lives, but they can’t do it without funding.
There is hope our warnings have been heard.
The Senate and House Appropriations Committees passed budget bills that preserve and modestly increase funding for medical research, including cancer. While this is encouraging, it remains to be seen if those bills can be negotiated and passed into law or if lawmakers will instead reach the January 30 deadline and pass yet another continuing resolution that keeps funding levels flat․
Policymakers stand at a crossroads: Invest in our nation’s scientific future to save more lives from cancer or cede our global leadership in cancer research and risk never discovering the next breakthrough․
The decision made today will determine whether we continue to lead the fight against cancer or fall behind. I urge every American to contact their Member of Congress and tell them to pass a final FY2026 budget that provides predictable, robust NIH and NCI funding, and most importantly, saves American lives.”
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