Mar 29, 2025 17:00:00

It is clear that the US National Institutes of Health's subsidy has decreased by more than 450 billion yen compared to the previous year since the transition to the Trump administration

Since Donald Trump took office as the 47th President of the United States on January 20, 2025, the US government has issued

orders to scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a medical research institute under the Department of Health and Human Services, to suspend public information releases, freeze hiring, and suspend business trips. According to an analysis by The Washington Post , NIH grants have clearly declined by more than $3 billion since the Trump administration took office.

Trump promised scientific breakthroughs. Researchers say he's breaking science. - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/28/trump-administration-science-research-cuts/

Report: US scientists lost $3 billion in NIH grants since Trump took office - Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/03/report-us-scientists-lost-3-billion-in-nih-grants-since-trump-took-office/

According to The Washington Post, new grants and competitive grants provided by the NIH to American researchers reached $1.027 billion (about 154 billion yen) in January-March 2024, but only $400 million (about 60 billion yen) in January-March 2025. In addition, non-competitive grants were $4.5 billion (about 675 billion yen) in January-March 2024, but only $2 billion (about 300 billion yen) in January-March 2025. In other words, the NIH has reduced the grants it provides to scientists as of March 2025 by more than $3 billion compared to the previous year.

Research areas receiving NIH funding include cancer treatments, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, vaccines, mental health, and transgender health, and funding for these areas has fallen by 60% compared to the previous year.

Ars Technica, a foreign media outlet, points out that 'NIH grants are the primary source of funding for biomedical research in the United States. NIH grants support more than 300,000 scientists at more than 2,500 universities, medical schools, and other research institutions in all 50 states.'

In the short term, a lack of funding could force clinical trials to be suddenly halted, scientific projects to be put on hold, or supplies to be purchased or experiments to be carried out. But in the long term, it could lead to delays in scientific progress and treatments, which could have a variety of effects in the future, Ars Technica pointed out. In addition, reduced research funding would make it more difficult to maintain research staff and train young scientists.

Given the funding uncertainty, Dino Di Carlo, a professor of bioengineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, told The Washington Post that he has decided not to recruit new PhD students to join his lab for the first time in 20 years. 'I've spoken to our industry advisory board and I've told them that in five years, there will be 50% fewer bioengineering PhD students available to companies,' he said.

A senior NIH official, speaking to The Washington Post on condition of anonymity, said, 'Imagine if this had happened 30 years ago during the breast cancer research boom, when we had better ways to identify breast cancer subtypes and find targeted treatments. Many more women would be dying from breast cancer today, and prostate cancer too. If we cut funding, we'll pay the price of less access to treatments in the future.' He argued that government funding cuts would result in major future disadvantages.

In addition, since the transition to the Trump administration, the US government has also eliminated programs that fund social science research that has important national security implications.

As soon as the Trump administration took over, the Department of Defense cut funding for research related to national security one after another, causing outrage from researchers - GIGAZINE