At the same hearing, Dr. Lewis H. 

 Weed, Chairman of the Di\'ision of 

 Medical Sciences of the National Re- 

 search Council, stated '"" "" '^ Much 

 of medical research will necessarily 

 have to be abandoned in the private 

 and semiprivate institutions of the 

 country unless Go\'ernment subsidv 

 is made available in some form for the 

 general support of medical research." 



Without Federal support American 

 medical research will not stop, but 

 without it our opportunities to ad- 

 \'ance medical knowledge cannot 

 fully be exploited, and our objectives 

 will be reached more slowlv. 



It has been computed that the an- 

 nual budgets of the 77 medical 

 schools in the United States total 

 about $26,000,000. The portion of 

 this sum spent for medical research 

 cannot be determined accurately. In- 

 come from tuition amounts to 

 $8,000,000, leaving a deficit of 

 $18,000,000 annually. To meet this 

 deficit the schools, apart from those 

 connected with State universities and 

 financed by the respective States, 

 draw upon many sources. 



A substantial part comes from uni- 

 versity endowment, but during the 

 past 10 years the amount of new 

 endowment to medical schools has 

 greatly diminished. At the same time 

 the income from present endowment 

 has been cut by one-third. With con- 

 tinued high taxation it is improbable 

 that large gifts and bequests for scien- 

 tific work can be expected in the 

 future. 



In many instances funds are allo- 

 cated to the medical schools from 

 tuition fees dcri\cd from other de- 

 partments of the university. 



Another source of research funds 

 is the foundations, but, as in the case 

 of the universities, the income from 

 foundation endowment is decreasing. 



Moreo\'er. the foundations in general 

 favor short-term grants to projects 

 which carry promise of yielding im- 

 mediate results. 



Industry is a potential source of 

 funds, but gifts from this source 

 are usually for specific problems of 

 a developmental nature. Universit\' 

 alumni associations contribute only 

 relatively small sums. Direct gifts 

 from indi\'iduals are a substantial aid 

 at times, but the medical schools 

 must compete with all charities and 

 churches for these funds. Further- 

 more, it is estimated that gifts from 

 individuals, while perhaps more nu- 

 merous, are far smaller in total than 

 the large contributions of individual 

 donors in the past. 



When the funds available to a 

 medical school are cut, the institution 

 usually retrenches by curtailing the 

 portion used for research. Overhead 

 and teaching expenses must be met, 

 and research becomes a luxury. 



Finally, while research funds are 

 decreasing, the costs of research are 

 steadily rising. More elaborate and 

 expensive equipment is required, sup- 

 plies are more costly, and the wages 

 of assistants are higher. 



9. How Financial Aid Should be 

 Supplied 



Federal financial aid to the medi- 

 cal schools should be provided in 

 three forms: General research funds, 

 fellowships, and grants-in-aid. 

 General research funds 



It is the Committee's opinion that 

 unrestricted grants, with no portion 

 earmarked for specific purposes, and 

 with administration delegated to local 

 research boards, would be the most 

 \'aluable and productive form in 

 which Government support could be 

 given. 



58 



