The 2018 omnibus spending bill signed by President Trump boosts funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by 8.8 percent, to a total of $37.1 billion for the fiscal year. This is the largest research spending increase in more than a decade.
The funds include additional allocations for brain research ($140 million), Alzheimer's disease ($414 million), and the flu vaccine ($40 million).
American Society of Hematology (ASH) President Alexis A. Thompson, MD, MPH, of the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, issued the following statement in support of the bill:
"We applaud lawmakers for greatly increasing funding for the NIH and the vital research programs that the agency supports. Furthermore, the financial support shown to the Cancer Moonshot initiative and the All of Us precision medicine initiative is encouraging, and ASH looks forward to collaborating with the NIH to ensure the success of these landmark programs. ASH looks forward to working with appropriators to reinforce this support in future funding packages."
Sources: The Hill, March 21, 2018; American Society of Hematology press release, March 23, 2018.