MGH Braces For Millions In Research Cuts

WBUR's Curt Nickisch reports that Massachusetts General Hospital is budgeting for a $19 million cut next year due to decreases in federal research funding:

MGH President Peter Slavin says the projected loss of $19 million is only part of it — that’s the amount that goes to the hospital to help pay overhead. Slavin says the National Institutes of Health has also been telling researchers to lower their maximum salaries, and warning that fewer grants will get the green light.

"Some young people who might have considered careers in biomedical research are just going to see this incredibly steep hill, and decide to do other things," Slavin said. "That is tragic."

Mass General’s annual research budget is about $800 million.

Last week WBUR reported on further sequester-related research cuts and how they might undermine basic science — and, specifically, Boston's biomedical edge — in the future:

For 18 consecutive years, Boston has led the nation among all U.S. cities in the amount of funding from the NIH. Money for biomedical research here last year reached a near record. But the federal sequester calls for cutting the NIH budget by 5 percent, and more over the coming decade.

Massachusetts got $2.3 billion from the NIH last year. That works out to $377 per person. California was a distant second, with $90 per person. And if you look at just Cambridge and Boston, it’s a whopping $3,000 a person.