In Brief
Congress Prepares to Return with Budget Deadline Looming
The House and Senate will return to Washington, DC on Tuesday, September 5, following a five-week in-district work period, with one major task ahead of them – enacting the fiscal year (FY) 2024 budget before September 30. The two Chambers are miles apart on spending totals for FY24, with the House aiming for spending in line with FY22 and the Senate aiming for levels on par with FY23. While neither option is close to ideal for the scientific community who rely on federal funding for research, there are still some highs and lows amongst the key science funding agencies.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) makes out considerably better than the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in both the House and Senate funding scenarios. While the NSF won’t receive the predicted increases outlined in the CHIPS and Science Act, it will not face any severe cuts to overall funding. The House and Senate have proposed NSF funding at $9.63 billion and $9.5 billion, respectively compared to the FY23 budget of $9.874 billion. NIH on the other hand will be relying on the Senate to protect what it can of its budget prospects; with the House proposing a significant cut of 8.1% to the overall budget with the biggest cuts coming to NIAID (-22.86%), NCI (-2.97%) and NIGMS (-2.62%). Conversely, the Senate is proposing a modest increase of 4%, which will leave most institutes flat funded (0%) and providing only small increases to a select few institutes.
Predictions for getting to a federal budget agreement before FY23 expires have been pessimistic at best throughout the year, with the worst-case scenario of a possible government shutdown is not out of the realm possibility. The best-case scenario right now may end up being a long-term continuing resolution (CR), which would keep spending at FY23 levels.
NIH Names Jeanne Marrazzo as New Head of NIAID
On August 2, Lawrence A. Tabak, acting director for the National Institutes of Health, named Jeanne M. Marrazzo, MD, as director of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Dr. Marrazzo is currently the director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She earned her bachelor’s in biology from Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; her MD from Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia; and a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Washington, Seattle. She is expected to begin her role as NIAID Director in the fall. NIAID conducts and supports basic and applied research to better understand, treat and ultimately prevent infectious, immunologic and allergic diseases.
Applications Are Open for the Biophysical Society 2024–2025 Congressional Fellowship
Interested in using your science skills to inform science policy? Does spending a year working on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, helping develop policy sound exciting? The Biophysical Society’s Congressional Fellowship program is your opportunity to participate directly in the process of law-making that impacts how research is funded and regulated. This year-long opportunity provides fellows a chance to utilize their science knowledge to inform the public policy process. Fellows will gain firsthand knowledge and experience of how Congress works, and participate in the esteemed AAAS Science and Technology Fellows program that provides ongoing training and networking opportunities during the fellowship year and beyond. Visit https://www.biophysics.org/policy-advocacy/congressional-fellowship for more details about the program or contact Leann Fox at [email protected] or (240) 290-5606. The application deadline is December 8, 2023.
In response to the Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) Working Group on Diversity, Subgroup on Individuals with Disabilities December 2022 report, NIH has proposed a revised mission statement to address the concerns raised by the language of ‘reducing disability.’
Current mission statement:
“To seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.”
Proposed revised mission statement:
“To seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and to apply that knowledge to optimize health and prevent or reduce illness for all people.”
NIH Leadership is seeking input from the scientific community and the public on the following questions:
- Whether the proposed new mission statement reflects the goals and objectives as outlined in the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2021-2025.
- Suggestions for specific language that could be added to the proposed mission statement and why?
- Feedback on any specific language that could be removed from the proposed mission statement and why?
Comments are due by November 24, 2023 by midnight and can be submitted here