Amid steep cuts in federal funding through the National Institutes of Health, medical research institutions are left seeking ways to protect staff and clinical trials as they work toward scientific breakthroughs.
In New York, where one in seven doctors is trained, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is leading a new effort to secure the future of the biomedical economy.
The proposal is called the Empire Biomedical Research Institute.
To learn more, WAMC’s Lucas Willard spoke with Mount Sinai immunologist Dr. Shruti Naik.
I don't know the exact dollar amounts to School of Medicine. I think the state has lost about $500 million. I want to emphasize here. So, the good news is that federally, there was bipartisan support, and this is really wonderful for NIH funding. The funding levels are the same, but how that funding is going to be given out is a little bit different, and it's different in very important ways. What, like I mentioned, what's going to be funded? Who is going to be funded? You know, there was, there were some documents and some memos put out about, you know, initially, or up to now, the funding has been given out based on peer review panels, and now they're going to include additional criteria of geographic distribution or other priorities.
So, what that really ends up sort of leading to is that New York needs to invest to maintain its funding, and also to attract additional federal funding to the state to maintain its status.
So, you had mentioned that one in seven doctors are trained in New York State, and with the impacts of this funding, to use another term, are you worried about brain drain, really? If you're losing the ability to train doctors and health professionals, are you worried about expertise being lost in that instructional training?
You know, you've really hit the nail on the head. So, it's brain drain. It's going to be brain drain at its worst, right? Because what we're seeing is that other states have already started investing very heavily in making sure that these folks are staying and making sure that they're being attracted to their states, California and Texas in particular. But then also our neighbors to the north are seeing this as an opportunity.
So, Canada has announced a $1.8 billion initiative to attract talent. So essentially, it's sort of, you know, this is the moment where New York needs to step up and say, ‘No, we are going to keep our best and brightest here. We're going to look out for, you know, not just our scientists and the biomedical discoveries that change life, but doctors that provide lifesaving care.’ And here, I must emphasize that, you know, New York has to do this because we are one of the states that pays the highest amounts in health care. So, if we don't invest in this early-stage research and in preventative care, which are, which are things that only government can do, which are things that you know pharma really doesn't do, then we're in big trouble.
Now, how about access to clinical trials and developing the next generation of treatments and other forms of research to treat disease and health issues?
Absolutely. So I really, I really want to commend our governor. She just put out and in her State of the State mentioned this also a Bolstering Biotech Initiative in which they do intend to build a Clinical Trials Consortium. New York….this is another really impressive fact, 12.5% of clinical trials across the country, right? That's disproportionate to almost any other state. it's extremely impressive. Mount Sinai runs some of the most cutting-edge clinical trials, gives access to care to, you know, really underserved populations. And I, again, I want to emphasize that clinical trials are a way to treat diseases and advanced care that, you know, sometimes in cases where there are dire circumstances and no other option.
So, the Bolstering Biotech Initiative and the Clinical Trials Consortium is absolutely necessary for advancing this, but the other part of what you said, which is, what about the future of discovery science and the next generation of therapies and the preventative care? You know, what we're advocating for is that New York doubled down on those features also, because if we think about biotechnology and the biotech economy, which the state is very focused on developing, I would say a large majority of that stems out of academic institutions like Mount Sinai.
Mount Sinai has been at the forefront of developing new technology, of developing new therapies. We have a tech incubator here. Those are really ideas that come out of scientist labs in medical schools and universities like Mount Sinai, they spin out, and then they start companies. The companies act like little incubators to develop the ideas further, bring it to a therapeutic. And then pharmas come in and really expand, right? So that's the ecosystem, and if you're going to fund only the second part of that ecosystem, and the base of that ecosystem isn't funded, then you're going to see it come down like a house of cards.
Now, going back to the Empire Biomedical Research Institute proposal, what other institutions are involved in this proposal? And what will this group, this collective effort, look like, if it is materialized?
Yeah, so, you know, the Empire Biomedical Research Institute, is really envisioned as a standalone institute for science, that is a state funding institute that funds the earliest stage research all the way up to that biotech piece so…and this again, you know this is really meant to be an institute that now brings miracle to the same level as California and Texas, who have been doing this for decades, and they have been reaping benefits in taxes. They have been reaping benefits in new jobs. They've been reaping benefits in preventative care and reduction of health care costs.
The institute itself would do four things. It would fund early-stage research, it would fund workforce development, it would fund technology creation. And I think one of the things that's really, really important here and is that it would bring together the entire ecosystem of New York, so upstate, downstate, Long Island, and really connect it to harness the power of scientists across New York.
Mount Sinai has taken the lead here. And you know, I will, I will really commend our institute, our scientists, our clinicians, they felt the need early on, and they understood that New York. And you know, we can really harness the power of New York to elevate our entire ecosystem. But we're not alone. We've been doing this alongside 14 other medical schools. There's a coalition of 35 organizations, including patient advocacy groups and, you know, the business community and various grassroots organizations, including UAW 4100 which represents our earliest career researchers who are at the most vulnerable stage.
So, you know, I think it's this moment where institutions and labor are coming together to say, you know, this is something that's needed to sustain science in New York. This is not a bailout for schools. This is not a, you know, like deans getting rich. This is a, ‘We are securing our position globally, and we are securing our workforce, and we're creating opportunities for the next generation.’
And are you working with any state lawmakers right now we're talking about state funding, and right now it is state budget season that's right in New York state. So, are there any lawmakers that Mount Sinai is working with to maybe get some funding for this proposal in the state budget?
Yeah. So, what I will say is that this is being led by the Associated Medical Schools of New York, which is an organization that all the 14 medical schools come to as as a consensus building organization that represents the school. So, they're taking the lead. And the proposal was presented to the governor to include in her executive budget. I think at this point, the governor has said, we want to do this Bolstering Biotech Initiative. She has not called an EBRI. We will continue to advocate next year for an independent institute, but many of the goals of EBRI were aligned in the bolster and biotech initiative, the workforce development, you know, the creating technologies and enhancing the biotech ecosystem.
She, in the in the line item, it's a $65 million commitment for the year. What we would like to happen is that some of that money is dedicated towards early workforce development, alignment with, you know, what it takes to really help folks grow the biotech industry. Some of those go to early grants that help develop the technologies and cures of the future. And that, you know, the state legislature helps raise that money from $65 million, which is already a large amount, to $100 million. Because science is hard. It's we want to do the best possible science, which is not the place where we want to cut corners, where we're developing cures. So, we're not working at present with any one legislature. We're essentially working with the governor's office and the Committee on Economic Development to see how you know how we can use some of the funds in the Bolstering Biotech Initiative to secure this early stage research.
