Re-Aim Blame for NIH's Hard Times

摘要

Anxiety and anger are rife among the biomedical research community over the dwindling fortunes of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The anxiety is justified: Success rates for grant applications have fallen, on average, from over 30% in 2003 to under 20% (and to even less at some Institutes), and the Bush administration's budget projections imply further declines. But the anger is another matter: Much of it is mistakenly directed at NIH itself and threatens to undermine the credibility of the agency with both its federal patrons and its public constituencies. Between 1999 and 2003, NIH enjoyed extraordinary largesse as Congress and two successive administrations doubled its budget to about $27 billion. During this period, as expected, NIH awarded more multiyear grants, committing itself to increasing fiscal obligations in the ensuing years. At the same time, the average grant size grew beyond the rate of inflation and the number of applications also rose significantly.