WASHINGTON--The budget for the US National Institutes of Health, which includes the US National Human Genome Research Institute, has been advancing through early steps of the approval process in both the House and Senate. The Senate appropriations bill includes a 15.5 percent increase for NIH overall. A 14.9 percent increase for NHGRI would bring its total budget to $385.9 million.
The House version of the bill also reflects an overall increase of 15.5 percent for NIH and an increase of 15.1 percent for NHGRI. This would bring total funding for NHGRI to $386.4 million. House Chairman John Porter (R-IL) has indicated his intention to increase the House’s appropriation to meet the Senate’s, according to the Genome Action Coalition, an advocacy group with a varied membership, including industry and public sector genomics researchers.