An estimated $5.8 billion in cuts to the National Institutes of Health in President Donald Trump鈥檚 has California鈥檚 top universities and medical institutions sounding the alarm.
Trump鈥檚 spending plan 鈥� running into opposition from Republicans and Democrats alike 鈥� would cut about 20 percent of the roughly $30 billion budget of the nation鈥檚 medical research agency that supports research on cancer, Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, Zika and other conditions.
Research institutions nationwide decried the cuts as potentially devastating to their work.
Among those who stand to lose the most are the University of California, San Francisco, which for the past three years has received more in NIH biomedical grants than any other public university in the country.
Grants to UCSF鈥檚 four schools that tailor聽to聽health professions reached nearly $634 million in fiscal year 2016, according to the UC Office of the President.
鈥淚t鈥檚 tremendously shocking,鈥� said Keith Yamamoto, UCSF鈥檚 vice chancellor for science policy and strategy.
鈥淭he hope was that biomedical research would fare well,鈥� even in the face of the administration鈥檚 stated desire to control spending, said聽Yamamoto, a top researcher in cellular and molecular pharmacology.
Total NIH funding for the University of California system in the 2016 fiscal year reached nearly $2 billion.
At Johns Hopkins University, the institution receiving the most in NIH grants last year, an official described the potential budget cuts as 鈥渆xtraordinarily threatening.鈥� Johns Hopkins received about $651 million in NIH grants.
Officials at Harvard University, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and the University of Alabama at Birmingham voiced similar concerns, noting that the cuts could set back basic scientific research .
Based in Bethesda, Md., the NIH spends most of its annual budget 鈥� about 85 percent 鈥� on grants to thousands of researchers and medical institutions across the country.
Traditionally, biomedical research has enjoyed strong bipartisan support, surviving ideologically driven cutbacks from one administration to the next. Grant increases to major NIH recipients had been averaging about 3 percent per year during the Obama administration.
NIH officials declined to comment on Trump鈥檚 budget blueprint, but its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, released a 聽saying the agency is 鈥渄edicated to fulfilling our department鈥檚 mission to improve the health and well-being of the American people.鈥�
The officials said聽the budget聽supports that mission and will help ensure delivery of critical services 鈥渋n the most efficient and effective manner possible.鈥�
Congressional Democrats are already pushing back hard against Trump鈥檚 fiscal plan, as are some Republicans. Political observers caution that presidents鈥� budget proposals, while signaling administration priorities, rarely are approved by Congress without major changes.
Still, UCSF鈥檚 Yamamoto said, 鈥渞esearch laboratories run like small businesses that operate on a very tight margin. There鈥檚 no slack in any element of it.鈥�
The results of double-digit funding cuts, he said, 鈥渨ould be dramatic and immediate and disastrous.鈥�
UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood slammed the cuts as 鈥渄eeply disturbing,鈥� calling the NIH and the research it supports 鈥渢he envy of the world.鈥澛燗s a public institution, UCSF has honored 鈥渁 pact with taxpayers by conducting research that has improved the health of all Americans,鈥� Hawgood said.
Federal money for research, in addition to finding cures for disease, also stimulates聽job creation, with grant dollars being paid back many times over, Hawgood said.
鈥淣early 200 startup companies have been launched based on UCSF research,鈥� Hawgood said. 鈥淭hose companies now offer good jobs and generate tax revenues that bolster the American economy.鈥�
The entire UC system benefits from NIH support, with UC, San Diego, winning more than $414 million in competitive grants last year 鈥� placing it squarely among the agency鈥檚 top 10 recipients. UC President Janet Napolitano issued a statement decrying the proposed budget cuts, saying they would 鈥渟tifle crucial advancements toward solving our nation鈥檚 most pressing needs and challenges.鈥�
Last year, Stanford University r grant recipients, receiving 944 grants for a total of more than $427 million, .
University officials noted that it is still 鈥渧ery early in the budget process,鈥� but said in a statement it was clear that the proposed cuts would harm research in medicine and health, technology, the environment, the humanities, social sciences and many other fields.
In a press briefing Thursday, Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, supported a major reorganization of NIH, calling for a consolidation of the agency鈥檚 27 different institutes and centers with a 鈥渇ocus on efficiencies.鈥� According to Mulvaney, the agency had been subject to 鈥渕ission creep,鈥� expanding 鈥渂eyond their core functions.鈥�
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