The American Epilepsy Society (AES) strongly opposes the proposed funding cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including the drastic reduction of facilities and administrative (F&A) cost reimbursements to a 15% cap.
“These cuts to F&A threaten to stall critical advances in patient care and epilepsy research by undermining the infrastructure necessary for conducting scientifically rigorous and impactful biomedical research, severely hindering scientific progress, and weakening the broader US biomedical research ecosystem for decades,” said AES president, Howard Goodkin, MD, PhD, FAES.
AES provides an average of $1.5 million in epilepsy research funding annually, providing critical early funding for investigators who go on to secure NIH K and R awards to further propel their work and progress. This trajectory supports the next generation of epilepsy researchers as they work towards groundbreaking treatments, improved diagnostics, and a deeper understanding of epilepsy’s underlying mechanisms.
Continued NIH investment—including adequate reimbursement for the real costs of conducting research at academic institutions, hospitals, and research centers—is essential to improving outcomes for the 3.4 million Americans living with epilepsy and the millions more affected by other neurological disorders. Reducing support for scientific research undermines efforts to reduce seizure-related mortality, improve quality of life, and alleviate the significant economic burden of epilepsy on patients, families, and healthcare systems.
AES implores policymakers to reaffirm their commitment to biomedical research by safeguarding robust and sustained NIH funding, including preservation of F&A costs that allow universities and other research institutions to support critical research infrastructure.
When scientific progress is at risk, it is important to use our collective voice. If you feel compelled to take action, the following partners in our space have made it easy to call on your representatives to urge them to support robust NIH funding and vote against the 15% cap to F&A costs.
The cost of inaction is too great, and the promise of continued scientific progress is too valuable to abandon.