Dear Chair Cole, Chair Murray, Ranking Member DeLauro, and Vice Chair Collins:
Thank you for your longstanding, bipartisan commitment to predictable and sustained growth in medical research funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). As Congress returns to session, the nearly 400 undersigned members of the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, representing patients, clinicians, scientists, educators, academic and research organizations, and industry, urge you to finalize the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) spending bill by the end of the calendar year with a robust investment in the NIH. Specifically, we urge you to provide no less than the Senate Appropriations Committee-approved level of $48.9 billion for NIH, in addition to funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H).
As the world’s premier public funder of medical research, the NIH plays an important role in our nation’s international leadership, and robust annual funding growth for NIH is key to improving people’s health. NIH-funded research in nearly every congressional district leads to medical breakthroughs that benefit patients nationwide, advancing potential treatments and preventive strategies for cancer, Alzheimer’s, maternal health, and other persistent or emerging health threats. In addition to providing new options for patients and families, NIH-funded research also generates direct and indirect economic activity at the local and regional levels, which in turn enhances the U.S.’s competitiveness globally.
Yet, the NIH only is able to fund approximately one in every five promising proposals, leaving potentially lifesaving science on the table, a challenge that is compounded when funding does not keep pace with inflation. In March, nearly 400 organizations across the NIH stakeholder community recommended at least $51.3 billion for NIH to keep pace with the biomedical research and development price index and support meaningful growth of roughly 5 percent. This investment would help expand the potential for new cures and other interventions for patients and their families, fully capitalize on scientific opportunity, and ensure that NIH’s budget does not lag further behind biomedical research inflation.
Although we acknowledge the context of a discretionary spending cap and its impact on funding conversations, we cannot overstate the importance of maintaining and building upon support for NIH in FY 2025. For these reasons, in the final FY 2025 spending bill, the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research urges you to provide at least $48.9 billion for NIH in addition to funding for ARPA-H, consistent with the Senate’s FY 2025 Labor, Health, and Human Services spending bill. Underinvesting in NIH’s annual base budget is to the detriment of patients today and tomorrow, undermines the future medical research workforce, and threatens to weaken U.S. competitiveness with global adversaries. To ensure that this funding effectively supports the work of NIH, it is imperative that appropriators finalize the NIH funding level by the end of the calendar year.
We also recognize that there are proposals regarding NIH’s structure, operations, and other policies. Our organizations are prepared to continue engaging with lawmakers about these proposals outside of the FY 2025 appropriations deliberations and in authorizing processes. In the meantime, however, we must ensure that we are maintaining a robust commitment to the lifesaving work underway.
Our community is grateful for the longstanding bipartisan and bicameral commitment to ensure that investment in NIH remains a national priority. Thank you again for your leadership and prioritization of the work that brings hope to patients and their families.