Statement from Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, President and CEO, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Posted date

We are deeply concerned about the Administration’s budget proposal, which includes a $5.8 billion cut in support for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). We are hopeful Congress will demonstrate bipartisan support for more robust NIH funding — similar to the recent support for the 21st Century Cures Act — and that a final budget will reinstate these essential funds for biomedical research.

This proposed cut would be a disaster for researchers, and for people with cancer and other diseases. Our mission is to develop new treatments, and to provide the best possible medical care to every person in this country who needs it. We are now on the cusp of major advances in immunotherapy and precision medicine, and if we pull back, it will cost many lives that could have been saved by faster progress.

Money invested in biomedical research is money well spent. It has a tremendous, positive impact on our economy, creating jobs directly in the lab, and in the many companies that develop medical breakthroughs into new therapies for patients. Every dollar invested in NIH research has been shown to return up to seven times that in economic activity.

The very negative consequences of this budget proposal on medical research and patient care would be deep and long-lasting.


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