Priority given to bioweapons over public health at NIH

The priorities of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the area of bacteriology have been "catastrophically re-ordered" by emphasizing bioweapons research over non-bioweapons research, a prominent authority states. Giving priority to bioweapons research at NIH, started under the Bush Administration and continuing under President Obama, "diverts resources from critical public-health and scientific objectives," says Richard Ebright, Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. "The negative impact has been most severe in bacteriology, in which NIH research priorities have been catastrophically re-ordered---with research on bacterial bioweapons receiving more support than research on the top five bacterial causes of death combined---and in which non-bioweapons research has suffered catastrophic losses in resources and personnel," Ebright said.