US investment in research leads to innovations
Members of Congress returned to Washington this week with a dilemma: Reach an agreement on funding the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year or risk a government shutdown. While the potential for a short-term funding resolution is possible, the negotiations and decisions made this week about how to prioritize federal spending are likely a harbinger of what is to come when Congress quickly shifts its focus to next year’s budget. As such, the implications of these funding decisions could have an impact on our nation for years to come.
That is why it is imperative for the White House and Congress to continue their bipartisan leadership of investing in the federal science agencies and programs so essential to U.S. prosperity and economic growth.
I can attest to how federal investment in research at Ohio State is playing a major role in fueling economic development and growing Ohio’s innovation economy. As a modern landgrant university, Ohio State both supports industry and is a catalyst for new researchdriven entrepreneurship. Our industry engagement is strong, with research and development partnerships among major automotive and aerospace companies dating back to the 1940s. The seeds of these programs are usually fundamental research supported by federal sponsors.
The role federal research funding plays in driving innovation is often underestimated. This is why a new report from The Science Coalition is so timely. It identifies companies that are the direct result of federally funded research conducted at a U.S. university. The 102 “American innovation success stories” highlighted in the report are bringing to market transformational innovations in health, materials, technology, defense, manufacturing, education and agriculture.
The companies also employ 8,900 people, pay taxes, purchase materials, equipment and services, and contribute to their local economies in many other ways. These companies are here today because university researchers had access to competitively awarded grants from the federal agencies adversely impacted by a short-term funding resolution or a government shutdown.
An Ohio State spinout company featured in the report, Core Quantum Technologies, is using quantum dots — semiconductor particles 10,000 times narrower than a human hair — to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment. While founder Jessica Winter was undergoing treatment for breast cancer, she realized that her lab’s basic research in nanotechnology could be applied to cancer treatment. Winter credits funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and training she received in the NSF’s I-Corps program with enabling the research that led to the formation of her company and a new tool for cancer treatment. Another Ohio State spinout featured in a previous version of this report, Nanofiber Solutions, produces synthetic organs for transplant into humans and is a great example of the societal and economic impact of federally funded research in Ohio.
Similar successes are happening across the country. In addition to company startups, this research also advanced our knowledge; educated future scientists, engineers and doctors; created direct jobs and equipment purchases; and helped build a skilled workforce. Given this type of return on the public’s investment, we should be funding more research not less.
Since World War II, bipartisan support for federal investment in research and innovation has established the United States as the world’s innovation leader. The White House and Congress must continue that commitment to our nation’s future as they complete work this week on FY 2017 and turn toward the FY 2018 budget process.
It is impossible to predict what might be lost without continued investment in federal science agencies and programs, but it is not hard to imagine the benefits from sustained and robust investment for scientific research: the seeds for many, many more American innovation success stories and the talent that leads those efforts.