The National Institutes of Health will get a $2 billion funding increase1 in the federal spending bill released early Wednesday, a big boost that could turn around the agency’s fortunes after years of stagnant budgets.
It’s the first time the NIH budget would get such a large raise in more than 12 years — assuming the spending bill can get enough votes to pass Congress. And it comes after a year of growing momentum in which powerful Republicans and Democrats convinced their colleagues that medical science is ready to make good use of extra money.