Research Leadership Discusses NIH Sequestration
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.