"New Collaborations Needed" as U.S. Cuts Global Health Funds

"Mosa Moshabela, vice chancellor of the University of Cape Town, said that his institution had been one of the largest recipients of National Institutes of Health funding outside the U.S., supporting projects in areas such as HIV and tuberculosis prevention, and that his institution had been "impacted a lot" by the White House's decisions. "We realize the danger of having placed all our eggs in one basket, pretty much," said Moshabela, himself a leading public health researcher."

""We know that, in terms of scale of funding, we're not necessarily going to have one source that can replace the amount [we received] from the NIH, but by spreading our partnerships we can still achieve similar results-and we are strengthening our partnerships in the Middle East, in Asia, across the globe, and also looking at new donors that are coming through.""

Multibillion-dollar U.S. aid cuts have disrupted funding for research on AIDS, tuberculosis and Ebola and upended long-standing projects. Universities that relied heavily on National Institutes of Health grants have been significantly impacted and cannot replace those funds overnight. Institutions are diversifying partnerships with other universities, industry partners, philanthropies and new donors across the Middle East, Asia and beyond. Some institutions are pressuring national governments to increase research spending; South Africa currently allocates only 0.6 percent of GDP to research versus a target of 1.5 percent. Universities are prioritizing cooperation over competition to pool resources and pursue joint funding strategies.

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