NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – President Barack Obama late Friday signed into law a budget agreement that includes a provision boosting funding to the National Institutes of Health in fiscal 2016 to $32 billion — a $2 billion increase over last year and the agency's biggest increase in 12 years.
Unveiled by Congressional leaders early last week, the bipartisan agreement was passed by both the House and Senate earlier on Friday.
"I applaud the bipartisan support for NIH and biomedical research that made this possible, and want particularly to thank the leadership of the House and Senate," NIH Director Francis Collins said in a statement. "This increase comes at just the right time to take advantage of remarkable opportunities to improve human health, powered by dramatic advances in scientific knowledge and technological innovation."
The budget deal specifically gives the NIH $200 million for its Precision Medicine Initiative, as well as $150 million for its BRAIN Initiative — two significant research programs Collins had previously warned would be threatened without additional funding.
Also receiving additional funding is the US Food and Drug Administration and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.