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In May 2025, the White House proposed reducing the budget of the National Institutes of Health by roughly 40%from about $48 billion to $27 billion. Such a move would return NIH funding to levels last seen in 2007. Since NIH budget records began in 1938, NIH has seen only one previous double-digit cut: a 12% reduction in 1952. Congress is now tasked with finalizing the budget ahead of the new fiscal year, which begins October 1. In July, the Senate rejected the White Houses proposed cuts and instead advanced a modest increase. And in early September, the House of Representatives also supported a budget that maintains the agencys current funding levels. However, talk of cutting NIH funding is not a new development. Such proposals tend to resurface from time to time, and the ongoing discussion has created uncertainty about the stability of research overall and prompted concern among scientists about the future of their work. As researchers studying complex health policy systemsand specifically, science funding policywe see the NIH as one node in an interconnected system that supports the discovery of new knowledge, trains the biomedical workforce, and makes possible medical and public health advances across the U.S. Our research shows that while cutting NIH funding may appear to save money in the short term, it can trigger a chain of effects that increase long-term healthcare costs and slow the development of new treatments and public health solutions over time. Seeing the bigger picture of NIH funding NIH funding does not just support the work of individual researchers and laboratories. It shapes the foundation of American science and healthcare by training scientists, supporting preventive health research, and creating the knowledge that biomedical companies can later build into new products. To understand how funding cuts may affect scientific progress, the training of new researchers, and the availability of new treatments, we took a broad look at existing evidence. We reviewed studies and data that connect NIH funding, or biomedical research more generally, to outcomes such as innovation, workforce development, and public health. In a study published in July 2025, we built a simple framework to show how changes in one part of the systemresearch grants, for examplecan lead to changes in others, like fewer training opportunities or slower development of new therapies. Eroding the basic research foundation The NIH funds early-stage research that lacks immediate commercial value but provides the building blocks for future innovations. This includes projects that map disease pathways, develop new laboratory methods, or collect large datasets that researchers use for decades. For example, NIH-supported research in the 1950s identified cholesterol and its role in disease pathways for heart disease, helping to lay the groundwork for the later discovery of statins used by millions of people to lower cholesterol levels. Cancer biology research in the 1960s led to the discovery of cisplatin, a chemotherapy prescribed to 10% to 20% of cancer patients. Basic research in the 1980s on how the kidneys handle sugar helped pave the way for a new class of drugs for type 2 diabetes, some of which are also used for weight management. Diabetes affects about 38 million Americans, and obesity affects more than 40% of the adults in the U.S. Cisplatin, a chemotherapy widely used today, was developed through NIH-supported cancer biology research. [Photo: FatCamera/Getty Images] Without this kind of public, taxpayer-funded investment, many foundational projects would never begin, because private firms rarely take on work with long timelines or unclear profits. Our study did not estimate dollar amounts, but the evidence we reviewed shows that when public research slows, downstream innovation and economic benefits are also delayed. That can mean fewer new treatments, slower adoption of cost-saving technologies, and reduced growth in industries that depend on scientific advances. Reducing the scientific workforce By providing grants that support students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career investigators, along with the labs and facilities where they train, the NIH also plays a central role in preparing up-and-coming scientists. When funding is cut, fewer positions are available and some labs face closure. This can discourage young researchers from entering or staying in the field. The effect extends beyond academic research. Some NIH-trained scientists later move into biotechnology, medical device companies, and data science roles. A weaker training system today means fewer skilled professionals across the broader economy tomorrow. For example, NIH progams have produced not only academic researchers but also engineers and analysts who now work on immune therapies, brain-computer interfaces, diagnostics and AI-driven tools, as well as other technologies in startups and in more established biotech and pharmaceutical companies. If those training opportunities shrink, biotech and pharmaceutical industries may have less access to talent. A weakened NIH-supported workforce may also risk eroding U.S. global competitiveness, even in the private sector. Innovation shifts toward narrow markets Public and private investment serve different purposes. NIH funding often reduces scientific risk by advancing projects to a stage where companies can invest with greater confidence. Past examples include support for imaging physics that led to MRI and PET scans and early materials science research that enabled modern prosthetics. Our research highlights the fact that when public investment recedes, companies tend to focus on products with clearer near-term returns. That may tilt innovation toward specialty drugs or technologies with high launch prices and away from improvements that serve broader needs, such as more effective use of existing therapies or widely accessible diagnostics. Imaging technologies such as MRI were developed through NIH funding for basic research. [Photo: Tunvarat Pruksachat/Getty Images] Some cancer drugs, for instance, relied heavily on NIH-supported basic science discoveries in cell biology and clinical trial design. Independent studies have documented that without this early publicly supported work, development timelines lengthen and costs increase, which can translate into higher prices for patients and health systems. When public funding shrinks and companies shift toward expensive products instead of lower-cost improvements, overall health spending can rise. What looks like a budget saving in the near term can therefore have the opposite effect, with government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid ultimately shouldering higher costs. Prevention and public health are sidelined NIH is also a major funder of research aimed at promoting health and preventing disease. This includes studies on nutrition, chronic diseases, maternal health, and environmental exposures such as lead or air pollution. These projects often improve health long before disease becomes severe, but they rarely attract private investment because their benefits unfold gradually and do not translate into direct profits. Delaying or canceling prevention research can result in higher costs later, as more people require intensive treatment for conditions that could have been avoided or managed earlier. For example, decades of observation in the Framingham Heart Study shaped treatment guidelines for risk factors such as high blood pressure and heart rhythm disorders. Now this cornerstone of prevention helps to avert heart attacks and strokes, which are far more risky and costly to treat. A broader shift in direction? Beyond these specific areas, the larger issue is how the U.S. will choose to support science and medical research going forward. For decades, public investment has enabled researchers to take on difficult questions and conduct decades-long studies. This support has contributed to advances ranging from psychosocial therapies for depression to surgical methods for liver transplants that do not fit neatly into market priorities, unlike drugs or devices. If government support weakens, medical and health research may become more dependent on commercial markets and philanthropic donors. That can narrow the kinds of problems studied and limit flexibility to respond to urgent needs such as emerging infections or climate-related health risks. Countries that sustain public investment may also gain an edge by attracting top researchers and setting global standards for new technologies. On the other hand, once opportunities are lost and talent is dispersed, rebuilding takes far more time and resources. Mohammad S. Jalali is an associate professor of systems science and policy at Harvard University. Zeynep Hasgül is a research associate of data and systems science at Harvard University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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The most radical career transformation doesnt require you to quit your job. You can create your own personal revolution right from where you are. You can transform yourself on the job to build a career that can survive the future of work. Career transformation is personal. Its within your power to reinvent yourself on the job. Most people dont, until they are forced to do it. Or when its too late. But you can create your own career reinvention. You don’t have to wait for what you deserve, sit tight for that promotion or the raise. Your transformation is all up to you. Here are three ways to do that. None of them is easy. But all of them are possible. 1. Run tiny experiments Treat your job like a lab. A micro-experiment is a small, low-risk project that tests a hypothesis you have. That can mean testing new tools, volunteering for projects that scare you. Or learning how other skills in a different domain can help you work better. Think your company could benefit from a new AI tool? Build a mini-guide on how it would work. If you believe a process is inefficient, create a new one and show it to someone who will take it seriously. These experiments may have no formal ROI. But their value is in the act of creation and the feedback you get. Each one is a mini career break in progress. A chance to build, test, and learn something real without the terrifying commitment of most of your work time. Success is data. Failure is also data. You win either way. 2. Transform yourself on the job Waiting for promotions doesnt work. Most people wait years. Even decades. And sometimes they quit. You dont want to put your future on hold for that long. Learn to create mini-breakthroughs. Redefine your own milestones or targets. Launch an internal project. Build a personal brand outside company walls. The key is to make your own career headlines. Dont wait for your boss to tell HR about how far youve come. Transform yourself on the job. Start learning in directions your boss didnt sign off on. Teach yourself design if youre in finance. Take marketing classes if youre in HR. You could curate your own brain trust of experts from inside and outside your company to help out. They can provide the perspective and inspiration for your milestones. That is how you combat intellectual stagnation. You are manually injecting diversity of thought into your life, creating a personal learning engine for your career transformation. 3. Practice intentional incompetence I dont mean do a bad job at work. Its the opposite. I mean strategically identify tasks that drain your energy and provide minimal value to your work. And then slowly offload or eliminate them. You are incompetent at them on purpose. For example, you can automate that weekly report nobody reads. Or stop spending so much time on it, just enough that someone questions its necessity. All work tasks are not created equal. Some are urgent but not necessary. Others are urgent but not important. Separate the essential from the unimportant. The goal is to create a vacuum where your time used to be. And use the new reclaimed time for other necessary tasks. Intentional incompetence is a ruthless audit of your effort. Youre not paid for your hustle; youre paid for your impact. Freeing up quality time from trivial pursuits allows you to focus on the high-value work that actually matters. Its how you make time to do more of what contributes to the bigger goal. More valuable work. The most radical career break is the one you create by redesigning your relationship with your work. Its reinventing yourself right in the middle of your current career. Monotony breaks careers. Were all creatures of habit until the habit unmakes us. Thats why you need to reinvent yourself on the job to stay relevant. Think of it as a controlled career transformation. Its one of the best ways to get ahead in your career before the inevitable you fear happens. Your mission isnt just to do the work. Its to let the work, on your own terms, remake you.
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Five years ago, I sat under a tree and cried. It was Cinco de Mayo 2020, and I woke up to an email: I was being laid off from my dream job as a global creative lead at Airbnb, one of 25% of the company being let go that morning as the pandemic hit the travel industry hard. I walked to the park in a daze, fully masked (remember those days?), found a tree, and broke down. Around me, life went on. Kids laughed. Dogs barked. Sun filtered through branches like nothing had changed. But for me, everything had. Layoffs surged to their highest levels since COVID-19 as of July 2025, so if you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you or someone you love has felt this sting recently, too. First, I’m sorry that happened to you. I know how disorienting and painful job loss can be. The grief is real. The uncertainty can feel overwhelming. And the identity shake-up? That hits different. Here’s what I also want you to know: This may be the end of one story, but it’s also the start of a new, more incredible story that you can write entirely on your own terms. Whether you’re navigating a career transition or just hearing that quiet voice whispering “Maybe there’s something more,” I want to share two storytelling practices that helped me find my way post-layoff. They’ve since guided hundreds of my Story Coaching clients through their own turning points, too. Choose what kind of story you want this to be In the weeks after my layoff, I ping-ponged between anxiety (“Apply to jobs NOW!”) and grief over my lost identity and work community. But then I realized I was in a “turn-the-page” moment. I would tell this story again and again. What kind of story did I want it to be? Psychologist Dan McAdams calls this a “narrative choice.” How we frame our experiences to build personal meaning. And these choices have real consequences. People who carry contamination narratives (stories that start good and end bad) experience higher rates of anxiety and depression. But people who frame their experiences as redemption narratives (stories that start bad but end good) report more confidence, connection to purpose, and better mental health. In other words, his research shows that shifting our narrative predicts and precedes psychological well-being. Consciously choosing a redemption narrative will set you on the path to feeling better. After my layoff, I told myself: “This is a story of the time I lost my job. But it’s going to be a story of the time I find myself.” Your reflection prompt: After you’ve had your moment crying under the proverbial tree (we all need it), you have a choice. You can frame this transition as something that happened to youthat youre a victim of circumstances who has to take whatever comes next. Or you can see this as an unexpected plot twist that becomes the catalyst for your most intentional and aligned chapter yet. The narrative you choose will determine every action you take next. Name your past career chapters to shape your future Once I stopped panic-applying to jobs, I took time to ask: What do I really want to do? I’d spent 15 years telling other people’s storiesfrom the Obama campaign and Airbnb to a wild summer working on a Bravo dating showbut had never explored my own. So I cataloged my career chapters with names like “My Year of Hope and Change” and “Post-Airbnb Identity Crisis & Reset.” Patterns emerged immediately. I loved creating spaces for people to use their stories to create impact, but I seriously dreaded office politics. I thrived most when I created and shaped a role myself, but I struggled in positions with narrow job descriptions or restricted responsibilities. This clarity gave me the confidence to start my Story Coaching business instead of returning to a more traditional role. Now I spend my days doing exactly what lights me up, which is helping individuals and teams navigate crossroads using their personal stories as a guide, all without the corporate bureaucracy that always drained me. When we take a pause to map our experiences, we discover themes and threads we can’t see when we’re moving too fast. Your career chapters hold clues about what energizes you, what drains you, and what you’re uniquely built to do next. I call this practice Narrative Navigation: Using your past, present, and possible stories to create a compass that transforms “what now?” into “this way forward.” Your reflection prompt: Take some time to outline your career chapters. Give them creative names, and reflect on what you liked (or didn’t) about the work, people, and compensation. What patterns emerge about what you love, what you’ve outgrown, and where you want to go next? If you want to dive deeper into this exercise, I’ve created a worksheet that walks you through mapping your career chapters to uncover your unique wisdom and direction. Your story is still being written Five years later, that moment sobbing under the tree launched my journey as an entrepreneur. The ending I feared became the best beginning. The layoff forced me to figure out who I was beyond my job title. Reflecting on my own stories helped me get clear on what I actually wanted to work toward. Now I get to witness my Story Coaching clients having similar breakthroughs every day, work that feels infinitely more meaningful than anything I did in corporate life. Now it’s your turn. Pause. Reflect. Choose the narrative that serves you. Trust that everything you’ve lived has prepared you for what’s coming. When you’re ready, don’t forget to share your story. You never know who needs to hear it or what doors it might open. Your next chapter is waiting around the corner . . .
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