Despite an enormous influx of applications to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), also known as the economic stimulus package, the President's Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 budget proposal calls for a modest 3.5% increase ($32.1 billion) at the NIH over the previous year's non-ARRA funding level. Moreover, the budget does not apply the increase uniformly across all Institutes and Centers and calls for a smaller 2.5% increase ($423.5 million) for the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR).
While the President's dedication to science and the NIH is applauded in the face of extremely difficult budget environments, AADR is disappointed that the budget seeks to reduce the federal deficit at the expense of some of the most productive and valuable discretionary programs - which only make up approximately one-eighth of the total federal budget.
"We were enormously grateful for the ARRA stimulus funds in 2009 and 2010. However, we are disappointed that this support for biomedical research and the jobs it created will be gone," said AADR President Grayson "Bill" Marshall.
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