Change from within

The proposed $5.8 billion cut in the NIH budget in the president’s FY18 spending proposal sent shock waves through the scientific community for its size and its message. But while few worry the cuts will ever pass, a caucus of prominent researchers has been building a case for making changes at NIH that advocates a restructuring and takes aim at what some consider the gravy train of administrative costs enjoyed by universities.

In a report titled A Vision and Pathway for NIH, an ad hoc group composed of two former directors of NIH, two former directors of individual NIH institutes, and 16 other scientific leaders present a vision for how to increase the efficiency of funding and ensure more is channeled into actual research and less into indirect costs. ...