Innovation should mean more than new charges on your medical bill - NIH Budget Cuts Threaten to Cripple US public health

NIH Budget Cuts Threaten to Cripple U.S. Biomedical Innovation and Public Health

The United States stands at a dangerous crossroads in biomedical science and public health. A new paper published in JAMA Health Forum warns that proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—now exceeding 40% for fiscal year 2026 under the Trump administration’s budget—could do lasting damage to the nation’s scientific infrastructure, economy, and preparedness for future health crises.

The analysis uses systems modeling to trace how these funding cuts could unravel the interconnected mechanisms that sustain America’s biomedical innovation engine. The findings are unambiguous: far from saving money, NIH budget reductions could unleash a cascade of consequences that increase healthcare costs, weaken the scientific workforce, and compromise national health security.

These are not speculative risks—they are systemic vulnerabilities, already beginning to materialize. Hundreds of grants have been canceled. New project approvals have plummeted by half. The scaffolding of U.S. biomedical research is being dismantled in real time.

NIH is the backbone of biomedical discovery in the United States. It funds over 50,000 competitive research grants, supports training programs at more than 2,500 institutions, and seeds innovations that private industry later brings to market. The new analysis outlines how slashing NIH funding initiates a “fundamental research contraction loop”—a feedback cycle in which the depletion of public investment starves the pipeline of breakthrough discoveries.

https://globalbiodefense.com/2025/07/28/nih-budget-cuts-public-health-biomedical-research-crisis/