BioCentury
ARTICLE | Politics & Policy

Sequestration would slash NIH budget

September 15, 2012 12:23 AM UTC

Unless Congress acts to prevent or modify budget sequestration, NIH's budget will be cut by $2.5 billion in FY13 to $28 billion, according to a report released Friday by the White House Office of Management and Budget. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that sequestration would cause NIH to "lose the ability to fund about 2,300 grants that we otherwise planned to support" in 2013, NIH Director Francis Collins told BioCentury. NIH would be forced to eliminate about a quarter of the grants it planned to award in 2013, making it "the worst year that anybody could ever remember as far as your chance to get started in a new research project."

Collins said the cuts "could be a devastating blow" to young scientists. "I'm sure we would end up losing a significant fraction of our current generation of talent, which would not be something you could just turn back on again a few years later if you decided to change your mind," he said. ...