American Medical Research Saves Lives
Over the last century, NIH-funded research has helped improve the early detection and treatment of serious diseases. This research has helped doctors better identify variations in breast cancer and provided them with tools like ultrasounds, MRI machines, and cardiac implants. These innovations have increased the survival rate for breast cancer patients by 41% and improved the quality of life for people living with heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and more by allowing for more specific and tailored treatment plans.
Americans Depend on NIH-Funded Research
Keep Up the Progress
Kids with cancer, seniors with Alzheimer’s and families looking for answers are counting on NIH-funded clinical trials and research. Each year, thousands of children join NIH-backed cancer trials, and more than 230 Alzheimer’s trials are underway with treatments now able to help slow the disease in its early stages. We’re closer than ever to breakthroughs that could help millions of Americans.
Heart Disease: prevention strategies have led to a 67.6% decrease in deaths.
Opioid Use Disorder: the development of a drug to treat the disorder has reduced the risk of dying from successive overdoses by 38%.
Breast Cancer: the five-year survival rate for breast cancer has risen from 75% to 99% when caught early.
Childhood Cancer: the development of chemotherapy has increased childhood cancer survival rates from 5% to 85%.
Thanks to NIH research, groundbreaking treatments and therapies have prolonged people’s lives and dramatically improved their quality of life.
Imagine What’s Possible with Investments in Scientific Research
Imagine what could be possible if we continue to invest in medical research and make even more progress on the diseases that impact American families every day.
Taskforce Members
Supporters
News
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Suzanne King | 11.3.25
Every year, the University of Kansas Cancer Center must file a report with the National Cancer Institute in order to get its annual grant allotment.
This year that typically routine report, known in research jargon as a noncompeting renewal, was repeatedly rewritten. Triggering words targeted by the Trump administration had to be eliminated before a $2.8 million allocation was finally funneled to the cancer center in mid-September, two months later than expected.
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Ella Adams | 10.31.25
Higher education, biopharma and business leaders argued Thursday, Oct. 30, that while $400 million is likely not enough to fill gaps in the higher ed and medical research sectors left by federal cuts, lawmakers need to sign onto the governor's plan to ensure Massachusetts doesn't fall behind in the sectors it touts the most.
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Jessica Moore | 10.30.25
As a biomedical researcher, there have been countless ways research funded by the NIH has impacted me. Back before I had any idea that biomedical research was a career path, in elementary school, I witnessed the battle that my paternal grandmother fought against Alzheimer’s disease. My maternal grandfather had died young at 56 from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, so I felt both sides of my family rally around my grandfather and his quest to find treatment options for my grandmother. At such a young age, I could understand how critical a biomedical breakthrough would be to this devastating disease. These early experiences shaped my understanding of how critical neurobiology research is, as diseases of the brain can be uniquely devastating—impacting bodily, cognitive, mental, and emotional processes.
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Margaret Roarty | 10.28.25
When Mila Wood turned three years old this past June, her parents were concerned about how far behind she was developmentally from her twin sister.
After numerous tests and visits to specialists, the Susquehanna couple received some devastating news: Mila had Spastic Paraplegia 50, or SPG50, an incredibly rare neurodegenerative disease that affects roughly a dozen children in the United States and less than 100 worldwide.
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Brea Hollingsworth | 10.25.25
Some members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus joined together with breast cancer advocates at Meredith College in Raleigh to discuss how federal cuts are impacting research and funding.
North Carolina Rep. Deborah Ross and New Mexico Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández met with some state lawmakers and breast cancer awareness advocates on Friday.