The U.S.’s National Institutes of Health (NIH) provides a remarkable return on investment, both economically as well as the health and well-being of Americans. Some of the most groundbreaking medical treatments of recent years are rooted in NIH research.

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NIH’s mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability

In Fiscal Year 2024, the NIH awarded $36.94 billion in extramural research funding to researchers in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. However, the Trump administration’s 2026 Fiscal Year Year budget request suggest reducing NIH funding by as much as 40 percent.

A new report generated by United for Medical Research (UMR) notes that grants to NIH in 2024 generated almost $95 billion in economic activity nationwide.

According to UMR’s analysis, this funding directly and indirectly supported ?407,782 ?jobs and produced?$94.58 billion in new economic activity nationwide — or?$2.56 of economic activity for every $1 of research funding.

As NIH funding is awarded to researchers in individual states, that funding supports employment and the purchase of research-related goods, services and materials. The income generated from these jobs and purchases cycles through the economy to produce new economic activity.

Another study by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania states “NIH funding is the single best return on investment for federal spending at 2.4-fold. This is in the short-term. Maybe 10-fold in the long-term.” 

UMR’s President Caitlin Leach said the following in a press release: “There is no better investment than one that saves lives, supports local economies and drives America’s global leadership in biomedical innovation. When Congress invests strongly and consistently in the NIH, all three of those things happen.”

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