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 buprenorphine 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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Mohammad S. Jalali and Zeynep Hasgül | 9.17.25
In May 2025, the White House proposed reducing the budget of the National Institutes of Health by roughly 40%—from about $48 billion to $27 billion. Such a move would return NIH funding to levels last seen in 2007. Since NIH budget records began in 1938, NIH has seen only one previous double-digit cut: a 12% reduction in 1952.
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Madhukar Pai | 8.12.25
Twenty-five years ago, I had a life-changing experience. I got the biggest break in my career. My application to do a Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley, was accepted, and I was offered funding support through a National Institutes of Health program called the Fogarty AIDS International Training Program. I had little money those days, and without NIH funding and a welcoming professor who cared deeply about global health, I could have never left India for higher education in the United States.
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Anjali Iyer | 8.14.25
As federal agencies move to limit research funding in higher education, the University of Utah could lose up to $110 million annually if a federal cap on indirect cost recovery is enacted — a shift that would significantly cut back the amount of research conducted on campus.
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Lauren Rhodes | 8.15.25
Federal budget cuts are sending shockwaves through the Triangle's research community, and the long-term impacts are frightening for many.
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Jennifer Shutt [States Newsroom], 6.11.25
National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya testified Tuesday that he will work with Congress to potentially reverse a steep cut to the agency’s funding the White House proposed earlier this year in its budget request.
Bhattacharya told highly critical Republicans and Democrats on the Senate panel that writes the NIH’s annual spending bill that he’s “happy” to work with lawmakers to find a funding level that everyone can support in the months ahead.