- United States
- N.Y.
- Letter
I am writing to urge you to advocate for a rational approach to the transitions in Washington. Specifically, I implore you to strongly protect the critical activities of the National Institutes of Health.
The NIH is the lifeblood of the biomedical, biotech, and pharmaceutical strength of the United States. Without the NIH, there is no possible way the US would be the world leader in health care and drug development.
More simply, a strong NIH is just good economic policy. The $47B NIH budget generates ~$93B in economic activity each year – a 2.46-fold return on investment. Find another source of government spending that generates a 2.46-fold ROI.
Nearly every new drug made in the last 20-30 years can point to scientific discoveries funded by NIH as the point origin of that drug. While Pharma and Biotech do great things to transform those discoveries into actionable therapies, they do not generate the foundational knowledge needed for the next generation of creative biomedical breakthroughs. As a result, it is not hyperbole to say that a strong NIH is in the interest of national economic and medical security.
The NIH has come under attack by many in the country. While some reforms (across the board in government) could be useful, many of the attacks on the NIH, and specific NIH individuals, are unfounded and pure political theater.
The current shutdown of the NIH and halt on all activities could have devastating consequences to the core biomedical scientific engine of our country, disrupting the important life-saving work of thousands of dedicated scientists and doctors, and have a massive cascading impact on economic activity, drug discovery and our pipeline of scientists and researchers for the future.
I urge you to push for a rational and thoughtful approach. Get the NIH back online. Keep science moving forward.