NIH funding freeze stalls applications on $1.5B in medical research funds | Hacker News Reader

NIH funding freeze stalls applications on $1.5B in medical research funds

npr.org

29 pointsgeox7 comments

They're simply trying to eliminate most academic research, there aren't many other plausible explanations here. Blocking the grant reviews might look temporary, but these delays pile up and at some point it simply won't be possible to properly review the grants in time.

And this is not the only way they're interfering with scientific research, the hard cap on indirect costs is probably the other most significant event. And all of this is on extremely short notice (or actually retroactive as it applies to grants that are already approved), which makes it even more destructive.

BigPharma and others will gladly take care of the research debt, and they'll be paid handsomely. They seem pretty enthusiastic about it:

https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/pharma-ceos-speaki...

The research done at universities and pharma companies is simply different and not interchangeable. This move will also kill the pipeline for new scientists that pharma companies want to hire.

If you want to read a bit about all these event from the perspective of someone working in pharma I'd recommend Derek Lowe's blog:

https://www.science.org/blogs/pipeline

This article is interesting, considering it presents several observations, past the first several paragraphs, which say this is normal upon administration changes, and others saying long overdue. the first paragraphs cast it in a negative light. At least NPR showed distinct viewpoints.

> Some outside observers defended the situation.

> "A temporary pause in publicizing or funding new grants in order to review them is typical for a new administration," Judge Glock, director of research and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, wrote in an email to NPR."

Time to be bitter, if there is any good news, it is this will affect the oligarchs. Medical issues should be a concern to everyone.

I have an unfounded just-for-fun ("fun" used very loosely given the impact) pet theory that part of the reason all of the broligarchs are in burn-everything-down for number-go-up mode lately is that as most of them speed past 50 or 60 they are coming to the realization (at least subconsciously, even if they can't face it yet) that the singularity they have been investing towards is not going to arrive in time for them (if it ever does).

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