‘Tis the Season of the Colleague Letter
Research!America is circulating a community sign-on letter urging Congress to reject the proposed 38% cut to the National Institutes of Health budget included in the president’s FY26 budget request. The letter calls for bold NIH investment and a deliberative process before major structural changes are made at NIH. Organizations can sign the letter using this form by Friday, May 30.
Why We Advocate: What is possible with bold NIH investment? Here’s an example just announced today: a baby boy just over 9 months old with a rare medical condition has been healed by the world’s first personalized gene therapy treatment, as announced by The New York Times (subscription required). The article points out that this lifesaving treatment was based on decades of federally funded research. Medical breakthroughs like this one, with exciting implications for many more patients, are why we advocate every day for research.
On the Hill: Yesterday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified at hearings before both the House Appropriations Labor-HHS Subcommittee and the Senate HELP Committee on the FY26 HHS budget. These were his first appearances before Congress since his confirmation, and he faced a wide range of questions. While the secretary asserted that he would spend FY25 funds allocated to HHS, current spending has been significantly slowed by grant terminations and grant approval delays. Watch the House hearing here and the Senate hearing here.
It’s “Dear Colleague” season! Multiple bipartisan FY26 appropriations letters are circulating, providing several opportunities for advocates to engage by urging your elected representatives to join their colleagues in support of key issues. Letters currently circulating include: bipartisan House and Senate support for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP), a House NIH Dear Colleague urging $51.3 billion in NIH funding, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) letters in the House and Senate. Visit Research!America’s Take Action page to contact your Members of Congress about the first three opportunities, and use the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) editable grassroots alert to support the AMR letters.
Most Favored Nation: On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order directing HHS to pursue “Most-Favored-Nation” (MFN) pricing for prescription drugs purchased through Medicare and Medicaid. Also known as international reference pricing, the president’s MFN proposal would establish prescription drug price controls by tying U.S. prices to those established under universal coverage programs in other countries. During the alliance member-only discussion held earlier today, we discussed the impact of MFN pricing on both affordability and medical progress. Patients need both. More to come on this topic. Track this and other recent actions in our Administration Actions Timeline.
Off the Hill: To support your advocacy, tap our updated NIH and American Health resource, which highlights the concrete impacts of NIH-funded research, and read an overview of state-by-state Impact of NIH Grant Terminations developed by the AAMC Scientific Affairs team.
Speaking Out for Scientific Leadership: The Science and Technology Action Committee (STAC), is highlighting Research!America Chair Sudip Parikh’s testimony at a recent Senate Appropriations Committee hearing about the urgent need to protect America’s leadership in biomedical and scientific research and innovation through a series of targeted posts on LinkedIn and X. Join the conversation online by amplifying these posts.
Raising Public Awareness: A recent survey from the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) reveals that 62% of Americans have heard about federal policy changes, canceled programs, or budget cuts affecting science research and innovation, but they are not familiar with the specifics.
And nearly half (47%) say the private sector will pick up any slack created by diminished federal funding. We all have to better inform our fellow Americans. Watch ASTC’s briefing on these survey results and download a copy of the presentation slides here.
Risks to Research Partnerships — an Alliance Member-only Meeting: Save the date, May 22, at noon ET, for a member-only Zoom meeting to discuss the executive order restricting gain-of-function research and other actions relevant to global R&D (knowing that there is little distinction between global vs. domestic R&D). Two terrific guest speakers, Jamie Nishi and Amalia Corby, are joining us. If you are a member, look for an invitation in your email soon.
Brain Drain: NBC News recently released a story on U.S. scientists contemplating moving overseas due to severe cuts to scientific research funding here at home. It is one of dozens of news stories (per AAU count, thank you!) about the potential exodus of U.S. talent to competitor nations, many of which are actively recruiting U.S. scientists as I write! We can all help keep awareness growing – so as to end the brain drain. Please speak out.
Join Research!America: The membership process is straightforward, the benefits are compelling, and your participation helps amplify the impact of our multi-sector alliance on and off Capitol Hill. Email Senior Director of Membership and Development Kristen Furlong for more information.