How Do NIH Cuts Affect Local 328 Members?

IN MY OPINION: By Tara KarnesHow does the National Institutes of Health’s proposed 18% budget cut on research affect me?I am not in research and my work, as a custodian, seems far removed from the national debate on NIH budget cuts. I mean; a eighteen percent budget cut does not seem like much. So, why would this concern me?Well, for one thing my job is to clean the Bio Medical Research building at Oregon Health and Science University. And I hear things.Down those hallways I hear the hum of ultracentrifuges; cranky large freezers holding cells or proteins, and what else… I do not know. I pick up the garbage and sweep up used Pasteur pipettes under the feet of upcoming research scientists. Many of whom, spend hours attached to microscopes like a stereotypical cliché mad scientist. Sweeping underfoot of these researchers I listen to their conversations and concerns, worries and fears about how NIH budget cuts will effect their work, and so... I decide to do some research about this issue on my own.Here is what I discovered…The goal of the 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. That sounds pretty good since health care is a major concern for most people. I know this personally; because my daughter had a tumor and was given a cadaver bone transplant replacing a cervical bone in her neck. Knowledge from research allowed a team of doctors repair my daughter’s health.What does an NIH budget-cut mean?The proposed budget for NIH is a 18% deficit in their budget. The equivalent of a 5.8 Billion dollars!And according to NIH director, Francis Collins, he says, funding research offers short and long-term benefits, both by developing new treatments for deadly diseases such as cancer and diabetes, as well as stimulating the economy.In fact, for every $1.00 invested in the NIH returns $2.00 dollars in goods and services to the economy within a year! That is something we need! Right?!We not only care about healthcare but we care about our economy too right? I know I do! Our government’s administration has plans to slash NIH overhead cost payments to universities and research institutes. Hey wait a minute! I work at a university and in a research building!​Oregon numbers FY 2016• $275 million in NIH funding• 616 NIH grants awarded• 43 NIH-funded institutions• 41 NIH-supported clinical trials initiated at Oregon institutions• 26 Oregon businesses received NIH funding totaling $21 millionEach grant awarded by the NIH means jobs. Not just research jobs, but jobs for students, and office jobs, like clinical coordinators, and of course my JOB! Under each researcher is a host of other jobs that support that research.That is pretty important is me and it should be to you too!As a AFSCME union member I want to encourage all fellow members to ask your unit stewards about the NIH budget cuts and how those cuts will effect our OHSU jobs, people you know and the community.Please feel free to contact me directly at karnes@ohsu.eduI will be happy to share what I have learned so far in my own research of NIH budget cuts.If you are as concerned as I am, please email your representative.To contact, and look up, your personal representative go to http://www.house.gov/representatives and also share your message with:U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, https://walden.house.gov/contact-gregU.S. Senators Jeff Merkley https://www.merkley.senate.gov/contactand Ron Wyden https://www.wyden.senate.gov/contact/Referenced:https://www.statnews.com/2017/03/16/trump-budget-science-researchhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/23/nih-budget-cuts/8056113/https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/what-we-do/mission-goals