Biomedical researchers could see their odds next year of winning a funding grant drop to 10%-half the already historically-low current success rate-said National Institutes of Health chief Francis Collins，warning scientists of slimer federal budgets ahead。
在，在Human Genetics meeting American Society of Human Genetics meetingending yesterday，Collins gave a keynote speech discussing a coming era of personalized medicine，and challenges facing the$31 billion NIH单击功能区上，the leading funder of basic disease research and a major supporter of clinical research.After two years of receiving$5billion budget boosts from stimulus spending，NIH faces a possible return to 2008's$28billion budget，with less money for grantee's。
“Theeffects would be profound，Collins said to reporters after the talk，noting calls for cutting discretionary budget spending，which includes disease research，made by many newly-elected members of Congress。
What's behind the worry？Following a period of budget doubling that ended in 2003，the biomedical research enterprise graduated more investigators than funding grants exist to support.And the average of a first successful NIH grant application for researchers is now42，as result plication，alot of medical researchers will lose opportunities and younger ones may grow discouraged and move to other fields.“
Collins applauded a call bySciencemagazine editor-in-chief Bruce Albertsfor universities to stop using federal research grants to fully fund the salaries of their biomedical research professors，as well as pay the indirect administrative costs of labs.“One can understand why a college administrator would like getting a faculty salary paid for free”，“Collins said.”But I think we have to look in the long term at more of that money going to research itself。”
Either way，he predicted tough times ahead for NIH's budget.“I think if we can stay even with inflation，well consider it a success.”
By Dan Vergano
