SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Congressman Scott Peters delivered a strong message to Washington ahead of President Donald Trump's congressional address on Tuesday, saying it's crucial to maintain funding for critical health research at UC San Diego. Peters invited Dr. James Brewer, Chair of the Department of Neurosciences at UCSD, as his guest to highlight the significance of the work being conducted at the university.
“What we see is this sort of self-sabotage coming from Washington. We really want to stop that,” Peters remarked, underlining his concerns about proposed funding cuts.
Dr. Brewer emphasized the vital role of current research initiatives, particularly in fields like Alzheimer’s disease.
"For patients, this is the place where new discoveries are made in human diseases, and these programs allow us to have safer new drugs," he said.
However, UCSD and similar research institutions are facing potential funding threats due to the Trump administration’s proposed cap on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget, which primarily funds many of the university's research initiatives. The proposal could cut NIH funding by $150 million annually, jeopardizing essential lab resources and operational budgets.
“We're seeing already graduate students being very fearful of coming into this field,” Brewer said.
Ahead of the address, Peters penned a letter urging President Trump to reconsider the cuts to NIH funding. Although a federal court has temporarily blocked the administration's plans to enact the proposed cuts, uncertainty remains regarding the future of research funding at institutions like UC San Diego.
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