A coalition of New York medical schools and other prominent research institutions is asking Gov. Kathy Hochul to commit billions of state dollars in the coming years to create a new biomedical research fund amid ongoing uncertainty around federal science funding.
Supporters say the proposed Empire Biomedical Research Institute would not only sustain existing research and jobs that are endangered by changes in federal funding under the Trump administration, but also fuel New York’s life sciences sector in the long term.
“We can't separate this [proposal] from all of the changes in policy and funding that have come out of Washington,” said Jonathan Teyan, the president and CEO of the Associated Medical Schools of New York. “But our view is that this is actually really good for economic development and for health care in New York.”
Federally funded research supported more than 30,000 jobs in New York state last year, generating more than $8 billion in economic activity, according to an analysis by United for Medical Research, a national coalition of research institutions.
But more than a thousand research grants in New York have been impacted this year by federal funding cuts or freezes, and even after some terminations were reversed, hundreds are still affected, according to Grant Witness, a site created by researchers to track changes in funding at the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In a written proposal, the Associated Medical Schools of New York suggests the new state fund should start with $500 million and expand to $6 billion over the next decade.
But the fund will have stiff competition for state funding going into the fiscal year 2027 budget session, which starts in January.
“There are big [federal] cuts coming and big policy changes with regards to both the Medicaid program and the SNAP program,” noted Ana Champeny, vice president for research at the Citizens Budget Commission, a city and state budget watchdog group. She added that Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani also has an ambitious agenda that requires state support.
“The legislators and the governor will need to figure out, ‘What are the priorities?’” Champeny said.
Institutions including Mount Sinai Health System, Columbia University and the CUNY School of Medicine made their case for prioritizing biomedical research in a letter to Hochul last week, which was shared with Gothamist.
Without such a fund, they wrote, “we risk losing ground to other states and countries that are expanding their commitments in recognition of the importance of biomedical research to their economies and to the health of their communities.”
Teyan cited Massachusetts, California and Texas as states that have made major commitments to biomedical research in recent years.
“New York state is a national leader in life sciences, innovation and advanced manufacturing thanks to Gov. Hochul’s record investments and public-private partnerships,” said Kassie White, a spokesperson for the governor, when asked about the proposed biomedical research fund.
She cited plans for a cell and gene therapy innovation hub on Long Island, which is getting off the ground with the help of a $150 million investment from the state, and Regeneron Pharmaceutical’s recent commitment to invest more than $2 billion into a facility in Saratoga Springs.
Teyan argued that the state must also commit to supporting research at academic institutions in order to fuel the pipeline to the commercial sector.
White did not share the governor’s take on the new funding proposal and said the governor would announce her plans for the fiscal year 2027 budget in January.
Federal science funding remains in flux
Researchers in New York and across the country say research remains hobbled, even as some cuts to federal funding have been reversed.
Starting early this year, President Donald Trump’s administration froze or cut funding for thousands of research grants across the country, including hundreds in New York City alone. In some cases, the administration sent out letters saying the projects no longer aligned with federal priorities. In others, the administration cited alleged antisemitism at the host institutions.
The National Institutes of Health slowed its spending considerably amid layoffs and policy changes this year, with competitive grant spending falling 41% below average by July, according to a New York Times analysis. Many institutions implemented hiring freezes.
Since then, things have started to turn around. Some grant terminations were reversed in the courts. The NIH also eventually ramped up to spend its entire budget for the fiscal year, although the funding went out in lump sums to far fewer recipients than usual.
Still, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a Long Island nonprofit that does research on cancer, neuroscience and other areas, has had to undergo layoffs and is reducing the size of some of its labs, said Bruce Stillman, the organization’s president and CEO.
He said his own research lab, which studies the DNA in cancer cells, will shrink next year from seven staffers to four.
Stillman said he has been lobbying lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to maintain federal funding for science, but says New York state should also invest in the life sciences sector in order to remain competitive with other states and countries.
“There's an enormous amount of competition now, given the limited federal funding,” Stillman said.
Earlier this year, Trump proposed cutting NIH funding by $18 billion, or nearly 40%. But Congress has so far rejected that proposal.
