“Viewpoints” is a place on Chapelboro where local people are encouraged to share their unique perspectives on issues affecting our community. All thoughts, ideas, opinions and expressions in this series are those of the author, and do not reflect the work, reporting or approval of 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com. If you’d like to contribute a column on an issue you’re concerned about, interesting happenings around town, reflections on local life — or anything else — send a submission to [email protected].
Protect NIH, Invest in Our Future
A perspective from Mark Peifer
Since 1992, I have been a Biology professor at UNC and the leader of a research lab funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This semester I am teaching a course called Cancer Biology to 28 juniors and seniors. It’s been incredible to see and teach about the improvements in cancer treatment in the 20 years I have taught this course. Between 1991 and 2019, the cancer death rate decreased 32%. New treatments for breast cancer, colon cancer, and most recently melanoma have saved millions of lives. Many of us know a cancer survivor—I know two women whose lives were saved by advanced breast cancer treatments they received at UNC’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Similar advances occurred in treating heart disease, with drugs like statins changing outcomes. Even more exciting therapies are starting to roll out, including the first gene therapy treatments for sickle cell disease and Type 1 diabetes. It’s been exciting to be a small part of this—our lab helped define how signaling between cells goes wrong in colon cancer.
None of these new treatments arise in a vacuum. All rest on decades of basic and translational research, and follow-up clinical trials, most of which is funded by our tax dollars via NIH and carried out at Universities across the nation. North Carolina and especially the Triangle play an essential role in this, making science and technology key drivers of our state and regional economy. In 2023 NIH awarded $2.28 billion (yes, with a b) in grants to NC institutions, and this helped us create more than 25,000 jobs. Nationwide more than 400,000 jobs are supported by NIH grants, and every dollar invested has multiplier effect on the economy, with a 2.5-fold return in investment.
NIH isn’t alone. The National Science Foundation, which funds scientific research more broadly, has a similar impact, fueling, for example advances in solar energy or helping us understand the impact of climate change on the NC coast. NSF provided $220 million in grants to NC Institutions in 2023. In total, UNC received $800 million in federal research funding in 2023, Duke $860 million and NC State $416 million. This not only creates jobs directly but is also the reason technology firms large and small are located in the Research Triangle. Sometimes the numbers seem so large they lose their meaning, but, for example, I employ ten postdoctoral fellows, research technicians and undergraduates, all living and shopping in our community, all funded by NIH.
The US leads the world in biomedical research, helping drive advances in disease prevention and treatment and stimulating our economy. However, in the past 10 years China vastly increased its investment, rapidly rising to number two in the world. Thankfully, biomedical research in the US has received strong bipartisan support, with, for example, Senator Tillis and his predecessor Senator Burr being strong supporters. However, in the last two weeks the new Administration sent shock waves through the science community. NIH and NSF grants are highly competitive, with only 21% of new grants chosen for funding. These decisions are made by panels of expert scientists, called Study Sections, and then subjected to further review at the Council of each NIH Institute. Two weeks ago, the President unilaterally halted all “outside communication” by NIH, NSF and other government agencies, disrupting grant review and thus halting new NIH funding until this ban is lifted. Even ongoing clinical trials were halted. Programs that help train the next generation of scientists, including one I helped run at UNC, were eliminated overnight, and the websites for key health information have gone dark. Some young scientists, like those with their own small grants, did not receive their monthly paycheck on January 31, and somehow need to pay rent.
Late on Friday, Elon Musk and President Trump escalated the threat to science, proposing a change that would devastate UNC, Duke, NC State and universities across the nation, and, if implemented, will mean the end of biomedical science in the US, and that’s no exaggeration. Each grant to a scientist like me comes in two parts: money that directly supports the work in our lab, and money that goes to UNC to support “Facilities and Administration”. This is the reason American Universities can carry out biomedical research. F & A dollars cover everything from the electricity in our research building to the more mundane but essential equipment we all need (autoclaves, “cold rooms” for storing reagents) to the University’s contribution to cutting edge equipment like the advanced confocal microscopes that make our own work possible—one microscope now costs nearly $1million. They help support the “start up costs” for new faculty who need to equip a new lab from scratch– hiring new faculty is critical as the generation hired in the late 1980s and 1990s retire. They also cover the many personnel who manage our grants, pay our personnel, and help us through the complex process of applying for new ones. Without overhead, Universities cannot support labs like mine. The aging building in which I work will literally fall apart around me if the maintenance is removed. No new faculty will be hired. I guess I’ll have to manage my $375,000/year budget with my calculator? My postdocs, PhD students and research technicians will stop getting paychecks because there will be no one in the office to issue them. Musk and Trump proposed a radical reduction in these F & A funds. Removing this support will literally destroy UNC, Duke, NC State and other research universities.
If you think it’s important that we fund the science that leads to new treatments for disease and helps address other societal challenges, you need to speak up. Much of what the President did, including the reduction of F & A funds, usurped the role of Congress. The Constitution makes clear that Congress holds the power of the purse, giving it authority “to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises” and specifying that “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by law.” Our Legislators need to hear from us now: Keep science funding strong, and don’t abandon scientific leadership to China. Ensure advances in health care and other areas continue. Keep our economy strong and vibrant, by investing in research that provides the foundation for future economic growth. Make sure our universities remain places where we train the next generation of scientists and technologists. The Capital Switchboard–(202) 224-3121–will connect you to your Congressional Representatives. The choice is ours.
“Viewpoints” on Chapelboro is a recurring series of community-submitted opinion columns. All thoughts, ideas, opinions and expressions in this series are those of the author, and do not reflect the work or reporting of 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com.
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