Citation

Richmond TS, Hargarten SW, Rivara FP. JAMA Intern. Med. 2024; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, American Medical Association)

DOI

10.1001/jamainternmed.2024.0337

PMID

38587861

Abstract

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the largest biomedical research entity in the world. It has near-universal support from Congress and has a current budget of $47.683 billion. The funding provided by NIH is the mainstay of research programs in universities and academic health centers across the country. NIH funds research that seeks to reduce current morbidity and mortality from major public health threats, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the epidemic of opioid overdoses. Yet, the near-universal political support of NIH has not extended historically to research on firearm injury and death. The NIH Reporter indicates NIH funded no firearm research before 2002. Congress did appropriate $12.5 million to NIH and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention each in fiscal year 2023 and the nongovernmental National Consortium for Gun Violence Research has funded $22 million in grants between 2019 and 2022. According to the NIH Reporter, there were only 31 active grants on firearm violence in fiscal year 2023. The mismatch of public health burden and funding is the result of the polarized politics around firearms in the US, which has resulted in decades of limited funding and restrictive language on what federal agencies could fund.

Language: en