NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) — Inflation-adjusted federal funding going to the National Human Genome Research Institute and the Department of Energy’s Human Genome Project is likely to decline 1.5 percent in fiscal 2007 over fiscal 2006, according to projections released last month by the National Science Foundation.
The NSF’s report, entitled Federal Research and Development Funding by Budget Function: Fiscal Years 2005-07, projects that NHGRI funding will dip by roughly .7 percent in fiscal 2007 from fiscal 2006, or to $474 million from $480 million. Meantime, the DOE’s HGP program will increase 18.6 percent in fiscal 2007 to $75 million from $63 million in fiscal 2006.
If the report’s projections turn out to be accurate, then the combined total genomics funding that both agencies stand to receive will increase by about 1.5 percent to $549 million in fiscal 2007.
But the NSF figures do not take into account inflation. If the rate of inflation is the same in fiscal ‘07 as it was in fiscal ’06 — an estimated 3.3 percent — then overall funding between both agencies would be down around 1.5 percent, or around $8 million.
The NSF worked with the Association for the Advancement of Science on the report, which is based on figures provided by the Office of Management and Budget and includes actual spending in fiscal 2005, projected spending in fiscal 2006, and proposed spending for fiscal 2007, which began Oct.1, 2006.
The complete report can be read here.