NIH Portfolio Allocation, Lemmings, and the Silent Spring: A Time-Capsule Commentary & Its Update

With the release of the US President’s proposed budget for the Federal Fiscal year (FY) 2013, to start October 1, 2012, we’ve spun yet again into the mad vortex of an appropriation season. Fundamental re-thinks of how biological and medical research are prioritized and funded are urgently needed, but sadly appear to be unlikely unless the research and advocacy communities push harder and in a more unified manner. Early in the Obama presidency and the NIH Directorship of Dr Francis Collins, the FASEB Office of Public Affairs performed an analysis of trends in funding of R01 and other Research Project Grants and shared that with the Director and his office. Using the FASEB analysis, whose numbers drew on NIH data, an independent commentary (below) was submitted to (but not published in) Science. With the analysis a few years old, this older viewpoint is followed by updates that touch on how the trends have fared since early 2010 and comment on other aspects of the ongoing cull in biomedical research. In particular, data on some of the growth areas that continue to prosper at the expense of the ever-declining direct support for R01 science are discussed.