Genetic testing, vaccination development and perhaps most importantly, the discovery of new treatments for once incurable diseases. All of these and more are the result of biomedical research.
Unfortunately, the Trump administration has recently made a 43% cut to the National Institute of Health (NIH), the largest funder of biomedical research in the United States. This cut is equivalent to almost $20 billion annually, leading to a pause in many ongoing projects and the inability to start new ones. Without biomedical research, we cannot continue to make advancements in biology and above all, cannot continue to save lives.
Although some people may believe cutting those funds is wise due to spending going out of control, just the development for a single drug or solution can range from around $700 million to $1 billion in total. This price can go even higher if any failures occur or if research takes longer than expected. Thus, it is crucial that the government once again restores funding for the NIH and similar organizations if we want to continue to come up with more life-saving drugs and solutions.
The process of drug development is also very time consuming. The first step, coming up with a target for the drug (usually an organelle of a cell), is the most time consuming, taking about three to six years to do so. Then, the target needs to be validated, the actual drug needs to be developed and the drug must undergo multiple clinical trials. Overall, this process can take about 10 to 15 years to occur. It is very much possible to reduce this time, but this also requires funding in order to have access to advanced technology that can significantly reduce the amount of time needed to develop a drug.
According to NPR’s December 2025 piece, “What Cuts to Research Under Trump Have Meant For Science in 2025,” the United States is one of the world’s largest investors in research and development, specifically experimental development (using already existing drugs or solutions and further improving on them). When the new administration arrived, they soon began cutting funds for educational services, environmental protection services, museums, social services, public safety and even scientific research, in hopes of reducing inflation. Unfortunately, there has been no significant reduction in inflation, and the organizations that have undergone funding cuts and those dependent on their work, are experiencing terrible outcomes. The denying of proposals by the government is hindering researchers who just want to make a positive impact on another person’s life. According to the ACLU, major research projects on HIV prevention, Alzheimer’s prevention, LGBTQIA+ community health promotion and many types of cancers have been terminated by the sudden cuts in funding, impacting the lives of thousands.
As a result of the funding cuts, NIH, the main financial contributor for almost all biomedical research, is unable to support as much research as they previously were able to. Without the NIH, there wouldn’t have been proper funding for COVID-19 vaccines back during the pandemic. We also wouldn’t have newly emerging treatments for HIV, cancer and even bipolar disorder – diseases millions all over the world are suffering from.
If pharmaceutical companies, biotech companies, colleges and universities that conduct research all tried to cover this cost on their own, they would barely have enough money to support even one project at maximum, making funds from NIH and government research grants critical.
Colleges and universities, where most biomedical research occurs, have been the most impacted by funding cuts. Usually, colleges and universities can charge the NIH research grants known as Facilities & Administrative (F&A) fee. The F&A fee covers major costs for infrastructure, materials and administration – costs that the college or university cannot afford on its own. Initially, this used to make up 57% of the budget for the NIH. Now, it has been decreased to a measly 15%. For universities that plan to continue research at the same level, that money will need to come from somewhere, likely through tuition hikes that will impact current and future students.
The research at many universities will be heavily impacted from the cuts, some including University of Buffalo, Duke University, Medical College of Wisconsin, Baylor College of Medicine and even University of Massachusetts Amherst, a popular choice for Algonquin students. As a result of the funding cuts, UMass Amherst will have a loss of over $10 million for research and a reduction in the number of research projects that can be taken in many science fields, including biomedical research. Incoming students of this university one day may not be guaranteed the ability to pursue their research ideas.
So, how do we continue funding for this crucial biological and biomedical research?
One thought might be for individual biotech companies to cover costs on their own. But according to NIH themselves, the average cost of a biomedical research project can be anywhere from $161 million to $4.54 billion. But given such huge costs per project, they may not be able to do so. And universities? They’re already on a tight budget, and can absolutely never afford to cover research costs on their own.
What about charities then, such as the Children’s Cancer Research Fund from St. Judes?
Throughout my life, I’ve seen TV advertisements by hospitals such as St. Jude’s and Boston Children’s asking for donations. Often self-checkout kiosks at grocery stores ask for a donation to help support cancer research. But unfortunately, no matter how much money large healthcare organizations and public charities collect from small or large donations, it would never be enough to cover the costs of developing a new drug for cancer or any other currently incurable disease. Though St. Judes is able to raise more than $2 million annually from donations, that’s only enough to cover the cost of maybe only a single project or two.
One of the major actions you can do is directly contact a U.S. Senator or Representative in Congress through email, phone or even letter if you want to be old school. In the letter, talk about how funding cuts to biological and biomedical research are currently keeping us from saving lives and making advancement in biology. Provide them with statistics to further support your argument. Remember to be specific about which fund is being mainly cut, the NIH.
You can even go onto advocacy websites, which contain their own templates to help you email lawmakers.
We need to increase funding back for biomedical research, because in the research world, whenever there’s a new cut, funding never comes back. And with such a dramatic funding cut, there may not be much hope for people with HIV, AIDS, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis and cancer – diseases that still don’t have a cure and need all the help they can from research and drug development. Funding research not only helps those currently suffering from uncured illnesses, but will contribute to our advancement in science as a society.
