When my grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in the mid-1990s, there were few options for therapies and treatments. As her disease progressed over the next decade, there was little that could be done until she died in 2004. I was still in elementary school when she faced this disease, which has unfortunately left me with few memories of her where she was not ill or bed-ridden.

Today, however, families don’t have to have the same experience, and it is thanks to American-led health care and research innovations. There are now more drug treatments, therapies and early detection tools that doctors can use to slow disease progression, treat the underlying biology of Alzheimer’s disease and give family members more meaningful time with their loved ones.

These medical breakthroughs were made right here in the United States and were made possible by taxpayer-funded federal grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to doctors and scientists at some of the leading research and clinical care centers in the country. This is an American investment in American innovation to find American cures.

The NIH is the world’s largest public grantor of funding for biomedical research. In 2024, the NIH awarded over $47 billion in grants to American universities, medical schools and medical centers to support research and related activities. The mission of the NIH “is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.”

These grants have improved treatments for other debilitating illnesses beyond Alzheimer’s disease, thanks to investments in the NIH and America’s biomedical research infrastructure. NIH-funded research has also led to the discovery of new chemotherapy drugs and immunotherapy strategies for the treatment of breast, colon, brain and lung cancer. Federal grants have ushered in groundbreaking advances in the treatment of obesity and related diseases like diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. It’s clear that Americans are living longer and healthier lives — notwithstanding a brief decline during the coronavirus pandemic — thanks to American taxpayer investment in biomedical research.

American taxpayer investments through NIH funding were also responsible, in part, for 99% of new drugs approved by the FDA between 2010 and 2019. Arguably the most famous of these drugs is semaglutide, better known by its brand name Ozempic, which began as an NIH-supported research grant to study the biology of Gila monsters, a venomous lizard native to the United States. Investment by American taxpayers was also responsible for the development of Keytruda — a drug that has changed how many types of cancer are treated and cured.

Recently, executive action by President Trump is threatening to derail American innovation and the development of more of these advances. The policies and executive actions affecting biomedical grant disbursement will impact everyone, including quality of health care, access to new medical treatment options and possibly our lifespans.

The financial impacts of cuts and changes to NIH funding are staggering. A nonpartisan economic survey found that for every single taxpayer dollar invested in NIH research per year, the local community recovers approximately $2.46. That’s close to a 150% return on investment directly benefitting our local communities. Nearly half a million people in the United States have stable, good-paying, skilled jobs because of these taxpayer investments in biomedical research. These employees are smart, hard-working, educated, dedicated professionals whose work contributes to scientific discoveries and medical advancements. The work of these Americans has saved — and will continue to save — American lives.

This responsibility is not lost on me: I am one of these professionals. Born and raised in Haleyville, Alabama, I have now worked in NIH-funded research programs for 10 years, developing new treatment strategies for antibiotic resistant bacterial infections, diabetes, obesity, athletic performance and lung cancer.

Continued funding for biomedical research in the United States plays a critical role in promoting and preserving America’s place in the world in biomedical ingenuity, innovation and discovery. Just as the United States has led the world militarily, economically and technologically for the last 100 years, America is leading the world in biomedical research and medical knowledge advancement. That global leadership is now being threatened by the actions of our elected leaders.

An “America First” platform requires investment in American research. The NIH grant system is deeply rooted in traditional American ideals. At the NIH, the harder you work, the further you get in biomedical research. Grants are awarded on merit with no deference or attention paid to the researcher’s race, gender or political affiliation. NIH judges scientists solely on their efforts, achievement and potential. Researchers are given seed or investment money, and the NIH encourages researchers to turn their discoveries into business ventures. As a result, NIH-funded researchers are injecting money into the local, state and federal economies by selling American ingenuity, innovation and scientific breakthroughs.

Biomedical research funding from federal grant programs and agencies like the NIH represent less than 1% of the total federal government expenditures year after year. Now, scientists like me who are supported by these agencies are living in fear that our scientific work, contributions to American ingenuity and innovation and efforts to work under the NIH mission will be severely harmed not just in the present, but for many, many years to come.

Just like taxpayer investments into the NIH support American jobs, help discover American cures and maintain American competitiveness, the NIH now needs the support of American taxpayers. I encourage you to read more about the NIH, how its budget is appropriated and how it has affected you in ways that you might not know. You can further support this research by calling your elected representatives in Washington and at the Statehouse to let them know that you support an America First agenda that sustains funding for American innovation for American health and well-being. And contact family and friends to let them know that America First means full funding and full support for the National Institutes of Health, the crown jewel in America’s scientific research community.

Will King studies cell biology and metabolism of cancer cells as a research assistant at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College. The views and opinions expressed here are his own.