Editorial: Obama’s research proposal benefits Pitt

When the medical research field is well-funded, everyone wins.

Last week, President Barack Obama unveiled his federal budget proposal — a plan that features significant cuts to Social Security, drawing the ire of progressives nationwide. But overshadowed by the cuts to this cherished domestic program is a new commitment to medical research.

The proposed budget includes a total of $33.2 billion for basic research, which constitutes research simply for the sake of increasing knowledge, an increase of about 4 percent over last year’s federal spending plan. In addition, the president’s latest budget proposes total research-and-development spending, which comprises research for the sake of knowledge as well as applying this knowledge to devise new applications, of $143 billion, or about 1.3 percent more than the prior year’s budget.

In terms of specific agencies, the latest budget provides $31.3 billion for the National Institutes of Health — about a 1.5 percent increase from last year’s budget. Pitt students, faculty and administrators should all take interest in this particular investment. As of April 8, Pitt has received 281 grants from the NIH totaling $81,092,864 in total funding.

In order to pay for this increase in research funding, Obama’s budget cuts basic military-related research by $73.2 billion — a 5.2 percent reduction.

For an undergraduate student at Pitt, the potential for new government funding toward research may seem irrelevant. Generally, this funding goes toward professional research projects, in which students typically aren’t included.

Non-STEM focused undergraduates may not view Obama’s latest budget proposal as important. But students studying social sciences and humanities could receive indirect benefits from it: Fewer natural-science students will have to apply for fellowships, since they’ll have the opportunity to receive grants funded by the NIH. This reduces the competition for coveted fellowships, thereby providing new opportunities for students hoping to participate in advanced research opportunities.

Employing a sense of apathy toward this new stream of funding is a mistake.

Funding from the NIH, and other institutions of its kind, opens up opportunities for undergraduate students in the natural sciences to participate in research programs alongside principal investigators. When federal funding toward these programs is reduced — as proposed in the $85 billion federal sequester, which threatens to remove $32.6 billion from the federal budget unless it’s replaced by Obama’s proposed funding increases — undergraduates are the first to lose their positions.

Additionally, a lack of funding can force researchers to use outdated technology. For example, Pitt neuroscience researchers are in need of a $20,000 objective lens to look at individual neurons. This device allows researchers’ microscopes to view samples at a cellular level. If grants from organizations like the NIH are unavailable, researchers are forced to choose between employing more student researchers or investing in equipment..

Proponents of military research may also have qualms about the cuts, and they certainly have a valid argument. Military research led to valuable and practical technology, including the Internet.

But the federal government’s proposed investments cover the holes left in the military research sector by increasing funding in other applicable areas. Brain-injury research, for example, works to address ongoing health concerns for military veterans.

While it remains to be seen whether Obama’s budget will gain any traction whatsoever in a Congress that remains polarized, everyone associated with Pitt should view this latest proposal as a success.