About Our Health ROI

The NIH: America's Biomedical Engin

Created in 1930 (with roots reaching back to an 1887 one‑room laboratory on Staten Island), the National Institutes of Health grew from a single hygienic lab into the world's largest public funder of biomedical research. Today its 27 specialized institutes and centers channel roughly $48 billion each year into everything from basic cell biology to first‑in‑human clinical trials.

For nearly a century, NIH grants have formed the launchpad for discoveries that private industry later transforms into lifesaving treatments: the first chemotherapy agents in the 1940s, antiretroviral therapies that turned HIV from a death sentence into a chronic condition, and the mRNA vaccine platforms that helped curb COVID‑19 in record time. Without those early‑stage, high‑risk investments, many breakthroughs would never leave the lab—or would debut at prices only the ultra‑wealthy could afford.

Beyond direct health impacts, NIH funding is an economic powerhouse. Every research dollar circulates through universities, startups, and biotech hubs, generating an estimated 7‑to‑1 return in jobs, patents, and tax revenue. Cutting that pipeline doesn't merely slow science; it cedes future industries—and the high‑paying jobs they create—to nations that choose to invest where we hesitate.

Finally, the NIH embodies a uniquely American partnership: public funding de‑risks discovery, and private companies race to commercialize it, accelerating cures while keeping the U.S. competitive against the EU, China, and other rising research powers. Protecting that model isn't charity; it's strategic self‑interest—and a patriotic duty for anyone who believes taxes should work as hard as the people who pay them.

In 2018 a dermatologist told me the dark speck on my head was melanoma. A plastic surgeon, armed with NIH‑funded research, used a then‑new “pinwheel” closure technique that spared me skin grafts and left only a faint swirl of scar tissue. Within weeks I was back at work—grateful, amazed, and suddenly aware of how invisible public science can be when it works perfectly.

While on Bluesky someone quipped, "Why isn’t there an app that shows how much NIH money went into the disease that saved your life? Throw the stats on a coffee mug and profit.&quote; My reflex was to reply, Nothing in development is ever easy. Then I discovered the NIH RePORTER API and realized that at least the data‑to‑email part was easy. One caffeine‑fueled week later, the prototype you're using was launched.

This site isn't about single‑handedly flipping congressional votes—some lawmakers will ignore a million emails if it suits them. The goal is to change our habits. For most Americans, democracy happens once every four years in a voting booth. Voting is necessary, but it is not sufficient. Sending a data‑backed note to your representatives takes five minutes and reminds everyone—citizens and officials alike—that participation is a daily practice, not a quadrennial chore.

There's no hidden agenda here. I run no ads, collect no personal data, and the entire codebase is open‑source on GitHub for anyone to audit or improve. If this project nudges you to flex your civic muscles, mission accomplished. If it also helps keep NIH funding off the chopping block, that's the cherry on top of my tiny pinwheel scar.