UC SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The Trump administration is making cuts to National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for grants, with the goal of reducing federal spending and addressing the national debt.
In an NIH X post, it states that the massive cuts would "save more than $4 billion dollars a year effective immediately."
While the executive order proposing these cuts to NIH grants is currently tied up in the courts, the potential impact could be devastating for research institutions like the University of California of San Diego, which is in the top ten institutions to receive NIH funding.
"We have just a huge research portfolio at UCSD, everything from Alzheimer's to virology, which is where I work, so bird flu, COVID, HIV," explained Dr. Davey Smith, a professor of medicine at UCSD who also oversees the university's grant writing process.
According to Smith, UCSD is accustomed to receiving around $600 million in federal dollars each year from the NIH alone to fund its world-class research efforts.
However, the administration's proposal calls for capping NIH grants at just 15%, which would translate to UCSD only receiving $200 million annually.
"It's such a massive cut, and it funds everything," Smith said. "To keep the lights on, to keep the water running, and also for my work, which I work in viruses, is to keep everybody safe, so it makes a laboratory environment so that we can do those research in a safe way."
The threat of NIH cuts goes beyond operational costs. Smith is also concerned about the potential loss of researchers who are considering leaving academia for opportunities in the private sector.
"People are very concerned about whether or not they should stay within an academic institution doing basic research or should they try to jump ship to an industry that might be doing more, clinical type research," Smith said.
Smith believes the university's fundamental research forms the foundation for many of the vaccines and therapies developed by private companies. Therefore, he hopes UCSD can continue to retain its researchers despite the cuts.
"I didn't see it coming," Smith said. "I do empathize with our leaders having to make cuts, and they've got to figure out whether or not science is worth it. Is the cure for Alzheimer's or the next bird flu going to be worth that cost?"
