Funding for cancer, Alzheimer?s disease and spinal cord injury research is not keeping up with the times, scientists say.
Johns Hopkins University and seven other institutions petitioned Congress not to let biomedical research funding stagnate in a 21-page report, “Within Our Grasp ? Or Slipping Away? Assuring a New Era of Scientific and Medical Progress,” released Monday.
They argued years of stagnant budgets for the National Institutes of Health interrupted promising research and drove young investigators into other careers.
“Warning bells should be sounding loudly in Congress and among the public,” said Dr. Edward Miller, Hopkins dean and CEO.
“The world?s premier biomedical research engine is at risk.”
Currently, eight of 10 research grant applications are going unfunded, according to the report, and principal investigators are spending more time raising funds instead of conducting research.
