Tennessean: Scientific research is essential to state's economic health
NIH supports critical life-saving programs
As our nation’s economy continues to struggle, the congressional supercommittee’s failure to reach agreement last fall will trigger $1.2 trillion in mandatory reductions in government spending with half of the reductions mandated to come from funding for domestic programs, potentially those including science and engineering research.
Without intervention, this will include medical research supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Negotiations for specifically which programs will be cut, or by how much, are under way in Washington.
Serious reductions to NIH funding will have immediate and negative consequences for the health of Tennesseans and also for our state’s economy.
Not including the incalculable impact from saved lives and improved quality of life resulting from research discoveries and advancements in health-care delivery, support from the NIH to our nation’s medical schools and teaching hospitals added close to $45 billion to the U.S. economy in 2009, according to an economic impact report recently produced by Tripp Umbach, a highly respected national economic consulting firm. The return from $28.5 billion in federal investment, nearly two to one in direct economic terms, is even greater when cast in terms of the long-term impact on our nation’s health.
Our nation’s academic medical centers — collaborative incubators where physicians and scientists partner to provide innovative care for patients and conduct essential research, while also training the nation’s next generation of doctors and biomedical researchers — are changing reality for patients with cancers and other life-threatening diseases almost daily. Today, patients at Vanderbilt are receiving DNA-guided therapies that are achieving remission rates in melanoma and lung cancer that were unthinkable even a year ago. At the same time, for every dollar invested in research at medical schools and teaching hospitals, a resulting $2.60 worth of economic activity occurs, advancing the economic health of our community as we improve the health of our people.
According to Tripp Umbach, in 2009 Tennessee’s medical schools and teaching hospitals generated $987 million in total direct economic impact — and by circulating throughout Tennessee’s economy through job creation and support services relating to research, created an additional $607 million in indirect economic impact. At Vanderbilt alone, the nation’s investment in biomedical research is responsible for more than 5,000 jobs.
At Vanderbilt, due to the creativity and national competiveness of our faculty, we have been able to maintain our status as leaders among the nation’s academic institutions in terms of research funding, despite flat NIH budgets over the past several years. Research funds coming to Vanderbilt faculty have continued to rise, to $587 million in the most recent year. Of this funding, $370 million comes directly from the NIH.
An immediate cut in NIH support would have a crippling effect — by disabling research programs making the urgent progress necessary to stop heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and myriad other diseases from cruelly taking our loved ones from us far too early — and also by taking away jobs in an economic sector that is, even in these times, actually growing and providing both Tennessee and our local community a continuous and vital source of economic stability.
As policymakers make the tough decisions regarding the fiscal health of our nation, I urge them to recognize the critical long-term impact investments in science, particularly biomedical research, will have on our nation. We can ill afford to make drastic, irrational cuts to one of our finest economic catalysts — an engine of innovation that is unique and priceless, providing high-quality jobs for our citizens while saving lives at home and around the world.
