NIH Director Warns Of Sequester Consequences

For 18 consecutive years, Boston has led the nation among all U.S. cities in the amount of funding it receives from the National Institutes of Health.

Money for biomedical research in Boston reached a near record last year. But that's set to change, as NIH funding shrinks due to the federal sequester.

Biomedical researchers nationwide are competing for fewer and fewer grants.

The federal sequester calls for cutting the NIH budget by five percent this year, and more over the coming decade.

Dr. Francis Collins, head of the National Institutes of Health, told WBUR reporter Bruce Gellerman, "Sequestration is compromising the future of biomedical research and slowing the improvement in the health of all Americans."