FY 2016 Appropriations: National Institutes of Health Budget Up 5.8%, Bill Lauds Basic Research
On Dec. 18, Congress passed, and the President signed into law, the final FY 2016 annual spending bill. As FYI reported last Wednesday
Congress’ guidance for NIH spending can be found on pages 31-41 of the bill’s joint explanatory statement
Agency / Institute |
FY14 Enacted |
FY15 Enacted |
FY16 President’s Request |
FY16 Enacted |
Change between FY15 and FY16 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
National Institutes of Health |
30,070.1 |
30,311.3 |
31,311.3 |
32,084.0 |
5.8% |
National Cancer Institute |
4,932.4 |
4,953.0 |
5,098.5 |
5,214.7 |
5.3% |
National Institute of General Medical Sciences |
2,366.5 |
2,372.3 |
2,433.8 |
2,512.1 |
5.9% |
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders |
404.3 |
405.2 |
416.2 |
423.0 |
4.4% |
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering |
327.0 |
327.2 |
337.3 |
346.8 |
6.0% |
* Figures in millions of U.S dollars |
As the table above shows, NIH is receiving a 5.8 percent increase in spending between FY 2015 and FY 2016. Within that amount, individual institutes important to the physical sciences are receiving similar increases. The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
After the total NIH budget nearly doubled in size over ten years, from the late 1990s through early 2000s, the biomedical research agency has been held at about the same level of funding, adjusted for inflation, for more than a decade. This year’s 5.8 percent spending increase, larger than the President’s request, is a notable move away from that trend and represents a significant increase in basic biomedical research for the U.S. The FY 2016 spending bill provides NIH with $1.773 billion in new spending above the FY 2015 level.
With plenty of new dollars to go around, a number of the President’s banner biomedical research initiatives – including the Brain Research through Application of Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative
In addition, Congress’ guidance provides a reminder that the primary mission of NIH is to conduct basic biomedical research and that it should stick to that:
“The agreement urges the NIH Director to continue the traditional focus on basic biomedical research. The purpose of NIH basic research is to discover the nature and mechanics of disease, and identify potential therapeutic avenues likely to lead to its prevention and treatment. Without this early scientific investigation, future development of treatments and cures would be impossible. Basic biomedical research must remain a key component of both the intramural and extramural research portfolio at the NIH.”