Progress at Risk
Progress at Risk
Since World War II, universities across the country have partnered with the government to create an innovation ecosystem that is the envy of the world. Threats to this funding endanger scientific breakthroughs and disease prevention, treatment, and cures.
How research funds are used
Research funding, implemented through a thorough, competitive application process, has helped advance economic growth, science, and human health for decades.
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Medicine
Research funding cuts will slow or stop breakthroughs on infectious diseases and the next generation of drugs.
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Economy
Research funding cuts will slow the economy and shrink the U.S. gross domestic product.
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Safety
Research funding cuts will hurt communities and put American lives at risk.
How federal research funding changed America
For 75 years, the federal government has partnered with academic institutions, fueling discoveries that have transformed medicine, saved lives, and positioned the United States as a global science leader.
Of the 356 new drugs approved over the past decade, 354 received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world’s largest supporter of biomedical research.
Funding cuts to Harvard have a broad impact
Funding cuts to Harvard reverberate far beyond our campus. Each year, Harvard researchers partner with universities and hospitals across the country to utilize their expertise, gain new perspectives, and collaborate on solutions.
Recent funding cuts have impacted dozens of hospitals, universities, and research institutions across 32 states, from Morehouse School of Medicine to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to Texas Biomedical Research Institute.
Research at risk
In efforts to fight Alzheimer’s disease, Beth Stevens has driven a transformation in thinking about microglial cells, which serve as an immune system for the brain.
Don Ingber's lab was investigating radiation damage and new drugs that might ameliorate the damaging effects when the stop-work orders came in.
Christine Riedy Murphy's successful dental program training dentists to care for patients in remote regions of New Hampshire has not received funding from the federal government since April.
Kelly Rich’s research on reinvigorating the optic nerve holds promise as a way to fight currently incurable conditions like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and spinal muscular atrophy.
Kari Nadeau's clinical trial aimed at reducing the likelihood of near-fatal food allergies is at risk of ending because of cuts to Harvard's federal research funding.
Phil Capin's study to investigate the benefits of supporting attention and reading for students in Grades 3-5 may not be able to continue because of research funding cuts.
From the researchers
Resources are being cut. The suicide rates are going to go up. This is exactly the time that the kinds of models we've developed are needed.”Ronald Kessler
Professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School
I care so deeply about TB and I hope that we’ll find resources to keep parts of this going.”Sarah Fortune
Professor of immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
We need long-term consistent funding, not just to work on Alzheimer’s disease today, but to train the Alzheimer’s researchers of the future.”Bob Datta
Professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School
As this research program grinds to a halt, it’s hard to imagine what that will mean in the long term for the fight against drug-resistant bacteria.”Suzanne Walker
Professor of cell biology at Harvard Medical School
Funding cuts halt medical, technological, and scientific progress
Researchers talk about the uncertain future of their projects
Researchers talk about the uncertain future of their projects- Global Competitiveness
Threats to research are a threat to innovation, entrepreneurship, and growth
- Chronic Disease
Some studies would take decades to recreate if the samples are lost
- Public Health
What’s lost when federal funding for research is abruptly terminated
- Patient Safety
A halt in funding risks the protection of patients in medical research
- Natural Disasters
Cuts to climate research endangers all Americans
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