The NIH is one step closer to be short of $260 million from its 2011 budget

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) 2011 budget will be cut by $260 million in the budget that the House has just passed based on the last minute pact reached last Friday to avoid federal government shut down.

The NIH’s 2011 budget will be $30.7 billion, down 0.8% from its 2010 budget of $30.9 billion, according to news releases that can be found from various sources. Previously, the President proposed a $32.1 billion budget for the NIH and the House of Representatives allocated $29.4 billion to the agency. President Obama asked for a $1 billion increase for the NIH in 2012, which will be in new debate to start immediately. Chances are the 2012 budget for the agency will be less than what the administration wanted.

Combined with “the cliff effect” from the ending of the stimulus money the NIH has epically managed since 2009 to fund extra research projects, the negative growth of the NIH budget could mean less academic positions and tighter lab budgets ahead. Cutting-edge technology and cost effectiveness will be the key for survival of the fittest in the biomedical research jungle.

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Tags: 2011 budget, budget, congressional republicans, federal budget, NIH, President Obama, research budget