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As a result of recent federal budget cuts, BWH and Partners HealthCare leaders held an open meeting on March 15 to discuss how sequestration will affect the research community.
Sequestration will result in a reduction of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) $31 billion budget by $1.6 billion over the next seven months. As a result, Partners HealthCare estimates that approximately $45.8 million will be lost across its institutions. BWH may stand to lose $15 million, which will significantly impact research activity at the hospital.
BWH President Betsy Nabel, MD, and Senior Vice President of Research Barbara Bierer, MD, provided BWHers in a packed Bornstein Amphitheater, as well as those watching via webcast across the hospital campus, with strategies for dealing with cuts. Advice included making sure principal investigators spend their current funding, rather than under-spend, keep tight tabs on their lab budgets and use financial forecasts to prepare for funding shortfalls.
With the uncertainty of how funding cuts will play out, research leaders advised principal investigators to keep in close contact with their program officers at the NIH to get a sense of their particular NIH institute’s situation. They should also communicate with BWH Research Management about subcontracts and major research grants, to ensure the scope of work is revised if necessary.
BWH leaders encouraged researchers to seek other funding opportunities, such as industry collaborations, grants and awards offered by the BWH Biomedical Research Institute (BRI), Harvard Medical School, BWH’s Office of Research Careers and Partners.
BRI Director Christine Seidman, MD, imparted words of encouragement: “Despite the NIH sequestration, creative strategies and concerted efforts by BWH physician-scientists and institutional leaders predict that our legacy as a great biomedical research institution will continue.”
Has the NIH sequestration affected your lab? The BRI and Partners Government Relations want to hear from you. Send your feedback to bwhbri@partners.org and/or agolbitz@partners.org.