Big Changes Coming for Medical Research Funding

The government wants to take $5 billion from medical research next year. That money helps scientists study diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's. Now, they're asking for $41 billion instead of the $46 billion they get now. Some research centers might close completely under this plan. Five important research groups could disappear entirely. One studies how alternative medicine works. Another looks at health problems in poor communities. A third focuses on diseases around the world. The government also wants to combine two drug abuse research centers into one bigger group. They're even moving an environmental health institute into the disease control agency.Money for cutting-edge science would also get cut. A program that funds risky but promising research would lose nearly half its funding. Right now it gets $1. 5 billion but would only get $945 million next year. Many scientists say this kind of research often leads to big breakthroughs. Many lawmakers aren't happy with these cuts. Medical research usually has strong support in Congress. The president's budget always changes a lot before it becomes law. This usually means the final numbers end up somewhere between what the president wants and what Congress prefers.