When President Donald Trump’s administration abruptly paused external communications, hiring, travel and grant-review panels at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the scientific community sounded the alarm.
Cancer research – which relies heavily on NIH funding – was suddenly uncertain, sparking fears of job losses, delayed clinical trials and interruptions to groundbreaking research. However, billionaire and entrepreneur Mark Cuban saw things differently.
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On Bluesky, Cuban likened Trump’s action to what occurs following a business acquisition. “Trump is doing what you do after you acquire a company,” Cuban wrote. “Crazy, I know. But reality. The Dir of NIH should reach out to DOGE and offer to bring them in to remove inefficiencies. There are always some, and the Director knows what they are. DOGE gets a win. NIH gets back to work.”
The NIH, which has a $47.4 billion annual budget, allocates over $3 billion to cancer research through the National Cancer Institute (NCI). This funding supports groundbreaking studies, clinical trials and even university and biotech startups working on innovative treatments and diagnostics. As Forbes reports, it has led to significant advancements, such as the HPV vaccine, which has reduced cervical cancer deaths by 65% since its FDA approval in 2006, and rituximab, a breakthrough antibody therapy for cancer.
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But now, funding decisions are frozen because grant review panels have been canceled. Without these panels deciding which projects receive funding, labs may run out of funds, researchers may lose their employment and programs may end. Clinical trials for new treatments are also being delayed, which could be life-threatening for patients waiting on experimental medicines.
Princeton neuroscientist Sam Wang was blunt on Bluesky, writing, “I cannot stress enough the damage this will do to people and U.S. supremacy in research.” The consequences could go beyond short-term setbacks, endangering the 34% decrease in cancer death rates since 1991.
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