California, May 4
California lawmakers are racing to build its own National Institutes of Health (NIH) as the US administration pushed deep federal funding cuts that experts warned could cripple innovation, damage the economy, and put future medical breakthroughs at risk.
The proposed California Institute for Scientific Research (CISR), aiming to protect critical research on diseases, climate change and drug safety as federal support evaporates, was set for a hearing on Monday, said California State Senator Scott Wiener, who authored the bill.
The administration's latest budget blueprint, released on Friday, called for a 22.6 per cent reduction, totalling $163 billion, in non-defence discretionary spending for the coming fiscal year. Science and health agencies were among the hardest hit under the plan, reports Xinhua news agency.
California, which received over $5 billion in NIH funding last year, felt the impact acutely.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the University of California system, Stanford University, the California Institute of Technology and the University of Southern California were among the nation's top recipients of NIH grants.
The sudden loss of federal funding threatened to halt clinical trials, shutter labs and lay off thousands of researchers.
At the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), epidemiologist Beate Ritz recently told the Los Angeles Times that the loss of NIH support would force her to shut down studies on pollution and neurodegenerative diseases.
Gina Poe, a UCLA neurobiologist, said her lab's indirect funding would drop from $114,000 to almost nothing, jeopardising decades of work on sleep and memory.
The proposed CISR legislation would authorise grants and loans for public and private research entities while expanding California's capacity to produce and distribute vaccines.
"California is a global leader on science in our own right, and we must step in to protect our scientific institutions from the new administration's anti-science, Make America Sick Again onslaught," Senator Scott Wiener said in a statement when introducing the bill in March.
Wiener criticised the Department of Government Efficiency for "systematically dismantling" scientific research in the United States by slashing personnel and programs at all federal science agencies and stressed that California must step up and fill the void left by the federal cuts.
"Ours is a state known as a national and global leader in life-saving biomedical research," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
"I will not allow the administration to jeopardise the extraordinary work being done right now by scientists, scholars, medical professionals and other workers."
— IANS
Reader Comments
This is why federalism matters! States should have the power to protect their own interests when national policies fail. California's move is inspiring - maybe Indian states like Karnataka or Tamil Nadu could learn from this for our own research institutions. 🇮🇳
Cutting science funding is so short-sighted! In India we've seen how CSIR and other institutes struggle with budgets. America should learn from their mistake before China overtakes them completely in research. California is smart to take matters into their own hands.
Interesting development! But will this create disparities where only rich states can afford research while others fall behind? We see similar issues in India between states. Federal funding ensures more equitable distribution of scientific progress.
California's tech industry will benefit massively from this. Reminds me of how Bengaluru's private sector funds research in India. Maybe this public-private model is the future globally! Silicon Valley meets Sacramento 😄
As someone whose cousin studies at UCLA, this is worrying. Many Indian students depend on these research programs. If federal cuts continue, will it affect international student opportunities? California's initiative gives some hope.
While I appreciate California's initiative, this political fight over science funding is concerning. In India we've seen how mixing politics with science hurts progress. Research should be above partisan battles - whether in US or India.
Here are 6 diverse Indian perspective comments for the article: We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.