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Expert: Trump administration could affect translational research in 3 ways
Federal funding of science, immigration reform and relations with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries are three ways in which the administration of President-elect Donald J. Trump could affect CV translational research, according to an editorial by the editor of JACC: Basic to Translational Science.
“Translational science requires effective global cooperation between basic and clinical investigators in academia and industry, and is therefore extremely vulnerable to economic and/or political turbulence,” wrote Douglas L. Mann, MD, FACC, who is also professor of medicine and chief of cardiology at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, and a member of the Cardiology Today Editorial Board. “Accordingly, it is appropriate to ask how a Trump presidency might affect the [CV] translational landscape.”
Research funding
Mann wrote that Trump has not stated whether his pledge to cut federal spending will affect scientific research, and although funding for the NIH has tended to be higher during Republican administrations, “Mr. Trump has never been a conventional Republican candidate, and he seems very unlikely to become a conventional Republican president. Mr. Trump’s tax cuts could limit near-term funding for research if the economy does not gain momentum as quickly as anticipated.”
Tom Price, MD, Trump’s pick for secretary of HHS, has “spoken in favor of increasing funding for federal research agencies, including the NIH,” Mann wrote. “Further, Dr. Price’s experience in both academic medical centers and private medical practice should make him sensitive to the numerous challenges that researchers are facing.”
Trump’s choices to head the FDA and the NIH will be crucial, Mann wrote, recommending that Robert M. Califf, MD, MACC, be retained as FDA commissioner because “Califf has been an incredibly positive and rational voice for developing new drug and device therapies since coming to the FDA” and his retention would “have an extremely positive overall effect on [CV] translational science.”
Immigration issues
Trump’s campaign pledges to build a wall between the United States and Mexico and to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States are examples of policies that “have the potential to threated translational research programs in the United States, which rely on talented graduate and postdoctoral students from all over the world, as well as well-trained scientists from other countries,” Mann wrote. “The trainees and scientists represent an invaluable talent pool that helps to drive the engines of innovation in [CV] medicine. Avoiding a ‘brain drain’ by retaining the scientists that train in the United States is critical to the field of translational medicine in this country.”
Although Trump has stated he is in favor of allowing individuals who entered the country legally to get an education to stay if they wish to work in the United States, Mann wrote that “it will be extremely important to have Mr. Trump’s views on immigration reform clarified very early during his presidency. Uncertainty is never good for science or scientists.”
Impact on industry
The pro-business stance of Trump could benefit the biotechnology industry because it “could create a regulatory and tax-friendly environment that is supportive of the biotechnology sector, which may stimulate more investment and growth in this critically important area,” Mann wrote.
However, he wrote, if Trump follows through on his occasional position of allowing consumers to import drugs from other countries, that could “limit pharmaceutical profits as well as the dollars available for research and development.”
If statements by the Trump transition team to “advance development in health care” and “reform the [FDA] to put greater focus on the needs of patients for new and innovative medical products” are followed through on, “these policies would, in theory, be extremely advantageous for [CV] translational investigation,” Mann wrote. – by Erik Swain
Disclosure: Mann reports no relevant financial disclosures.