NIH Director polls Twitter for real-world responses to budget cutbacks

Here's a developing social media story of interest to scientists, clinicians and the general public. National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD, kicked a hornets' nest on Twitter earlier today with a tweet asking researchers to describe the direct impact of the U.S. budget sequestration, which began in March, on their research and lives. He asked respondents to use the hashtag #NIHSequesterImpact. The responses (some of which I've included below) are fascinating and depressing:

"I am no longer encouraging undergraduates to consider graduate school. No future in it."

"The NIH training grant I'm on was canceled"

"Watching top notch science go unfunded; bright, young investigators forced to close labs, it’s heartbreaking."

"I know a lot of very smart USA young researchers that are seriously considering China"

"Nothing will impact treating patients more in the long term than poorly funded basic science. Nothing"

Check it out if you'd like to hear a real-time conversation about what it's like to be a researcher today, and join in if you have anecdotes to share.

Previously: As budget sequester nears, a call for Congress to protect funding for scientific and medical research, Director of NIH discusses accelerating translation of biomedical research into clinical applications and Francis Collins profiled in New Yorker