Congress is making critical decisions about FY27 funding, and vision research is still at risk. With consolidation proposals the past two years, a 44% cut proposed last year and a nearly 10% cut proposed this year, discussions on revising the current indirect rate system, and the issue of forward funding (multi-year) grants, this year, your voice is vital.
We need your voice now to continue to protect the National Eye Institute (NEI) so we can ensure groundbreaking research that prevents blindness and restores sight can continue.
While the House and Senate have thus far rejected consolidation and the deep cuts proposed by the administration, they still need to hear from you as decisions are being made for FY27.
Today, the need to maintain vision research as a national priority remains not only valid but more urgent. The eye is not merely a window into the brain; it is a biologically and clinically distinct organ system. Conditions such as dry eye disease, corneal dystrophies, uveitis, and ocular surface disorders have no direct connection to the nervous system and would likely lose visibility and funding under a broader Neuroscience and Brain Research Institute structure as proposed. Likewise, with neuroscience and brain research being the focus of such a consolidated institute, research addressing vision conditions related to the retina and macula would also see less focus.
Maintaining the NEI and increasing funding is the best way to show vision is a national priority and to recognize the outsized impact vision researchers have had across biomedical science.
Take 2 minutes to contact your members of Congress and urge them to:
- Preserve NEI to support vision as a national priority within NIH
- Provide $51B for NIH and $1B for NEI in FY27
- Restore DOD Vision research Program to at least $20M in FY27
Your voice can help protect the future of sight. Take action today!