Scientists, senators spar over NIH money, research, diseases that affect millions

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Scientists at the U.S. National Institutes for Health (NIH) are demanding leadership restore research and academic excellence to the institution.

NIH staff made their demands in “The Bethesda Declaration: A Call for NIH and HHS Leadership to Deliver on Promises of Academic Freedom and Scientific Excellence.” They wrote to NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, to voice their “dissent to administration policies that undermine the NIH mission, waste public resources, and harm the health of Americans and people across the globe.”

Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD
_{© National Institutes of Health}

“Keeping NIH at the forefront of biomedical research requires our stalwart commitment to continuous improvement,” they wrote in the document as posted at standupforscience.net. “But the life-and-death nature of our work demands that changes be thoughtful and vetted. We are compelled to speak up when our leadership prioritizes political momentum over human safety and faithful stewardship of public resources.”

Undoing years of progress

The declaration was published a day before Bhattacharya visited the Senate Appropriations Committee to answer questions about NIH’s proposed 2026 budget. There he faced questioning from committee leaders about the current state of NIH — and if the United States was giving up its place the world leader of scientific and medical research.

Committee Chair Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) noted Bhattacharya cares about NIH, but the administration will reduce its budget by more than $19 billion, or approximately 40%.

“It would undo years of Congressional investment in NIH, and it would delay or stop effective treatments and cures from being developed for diseases like Alzheimer's, cancer, Type 1 diabetes, I could go on and on,” Collins said. The situation is difficult for Americans with Alzheimer disease and their families, and is projected to get worse in coming years, she said. Collins also cited the average age residents of her home state, and mentioned family members who had that disease.

President Donald J. Trump has committed the United States to leading the world in biomedicine, Bhattacharya said.

“This is my first time through this budget fight, and so I'm still learning, but I'll tell you, from what I understand is that the budget is a collaborative effort between Congress and the administration,” he said. “I look forward to working with you all to advance the needs, the real health needs, of not just the folks here in the room who represent Alzheimer's patients, but also the health needs of all Americans. We have tremendous health needs that we have to address. It's only excellent research that's going to solve those problems.”

‘Catastrophic cuts’

Committee Vice Chair Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington) said what the Trump administration is doing to NIH is “catastrophic.”

“The Trump administration is already systematically dismantling the American biomedical research enterprise that is the envy of the world — throwing away billions in economic activity in every one of our states, and jeopardizing the lifesaving work of researchers across the country,” Murray said. “This budget proposal would effectively forfeit our leadership in research innovation and competitiveness to China,” she said. “It would mean we depend on China for the latest treatments for devastating diseases.”

Collins also asked about indirect costs, a feature mentioned by signers of “The Bethesda Declaration,” and Murray discussed grant cancelations for clinical trials.

Rebuilding trust

In his written testimony, Bhattacharya mentioned the clinical discoveries of NIH, along with supporing “work in Wuhan, China, that may very well have caused the (COVID-19) pandemic.”

“It is no surprise, then, that so many Americans do not trust scientists to act in the best interests of the public,” Bhattacharya said. “Now more than ever, the future of American biomedical sciences is at a crossroads.

“To tackle the most persistent and complex problems, and to restore trust in science and the value it brings to society, we need to ensure our research is rigorous, reproducible, and generalizable; invest in and embrace bigger innovations and new technologies; and encourage academic freedom by cultivating a culture where scientists can respectfully express disagreement,” he said. “By focusing on research informed by the experience of American communities and bridging the gap between these communities and the biomedical research enterprise, NIH will make greater strides toward finding solutions that help make America healthy again.”

The 2026 NIH budget of $27.9 billion will pay for vital research into chronic diseases that are hurting the health of Americans, along with autism that now affects approximately one in 31 children, he said.

NIH scientists worried

The signers of “The Bethesda Declaration” called out Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and outlined five areas of concern.

Politicizing research

NIH has been forced to politicize research by halting high-quality, peer-reviewed grants and contracts.

Research on health disparities, COVID-19, long COVID and immunization, gender identity and biomedical research all have been disrupted.

The group addressed principles of rigorous study and the money that pays for it. During the term of President Donald J. Trump, NIH has terminated 2,100 research grants totaling an estimated $9.5 billion, and $2.6 billion in contracts.

That poses a risk to patient health and wastes money by throwing awas years of work, they said. “Ending a $5 million research study when it is 80% complete does not save $1 million, it wastes $4 million,” the declaration said.

Global collaboration

NIH should allow research with vetted foreign collaborators to continue. Blocking that work slows down discovery and cuts the nation off from the global scientific community.

Peer review

“NIH is ignoring peer review to cater to political whims, pulling applications prior to review and removing high-scoring grants from funding consideration,” the declaration said. That needs to stop.

Capping costs

A blanket 15% cap on indirect costs hinders research and damages successful partnerships NIH has developed with universities. NIH should return to negotiation based on well-established criteria to cover costs of buildings, animal facilities, computers, libraries and administrative support.

Firing staff

Cutting workers and critical departments without thought to purpose or need has slowed science, made NIH less transparent, and put patients at risk. They should be reinstated.

Despite the dissent, the workers and Bhattacharya share the goal of seeking and applying fundamental knowledge that improves health and life. They cited Bhattacharya’s confirmation hearing comments that the research is vital to the future of the United States and the world.

The patterned their dissent after Bhattacharya’s “Great Barrington Declaration,” the 2020 online document that criticized handling of lock-down and shelter-in-place policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The missive was named for Bethesda, Maryland, home of the NIH headquarters.