Ron DePinho, Professor of Department of Cancer Biology, Division of Discovery Science at MD Anderson Cancer Center, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“As Mary Lasker once famously said:
‘If you think research is expensive, try disease.’
Congress appears to understand this with their backing of an NIH budget of $48.7B for FY2026 – about a $415M increase over FY2025. Equally important, the bill preserves language that helps prevent drastic reductions in NIH “indirect cost” reimbursement – support that keeps the lights on for discovery (core facilities, compliance, IT/cyber, data systems, shared instrumentation, and the people who make science run… as well as start up packages for junior faculty).
That said, there remains a crucial caveat that the bill appears to continue the newer practice of up-front (“forward”) funding for multiyear awards. Even when total dollars hold steady, that approach can translate into fewer grants awarded in the next few year… meaning fewer labs launched, fewer trainees supported, and slower progress.
Eventually, this arrangement provides stable funding for funded grants but it comes at a critical time when the USA is at risk of losing its longstanding competitive edge in the lifesciences and biotechnology.
Bottom line: this is a meaningful step in the right direction – and a reminder that predictable, sustainable funding mechanisms are essential if we want cures to arrive faster than disease.”
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