Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Science is the truth we can bet our life on

Manoj Jain, MD, MPH
Physician
June 8, 2017
Share
Tweet
Share

Recently, a new mother of twins in Columbus, Ohio, sent a text message to her doctor:

“Adam and I would like to introduce you to Ava Jain Cullum and Piper Jain Cullum. Their middle name was a no-brainer since we are so thankful for the huge role you had in getting them into this world … Both girls are doing fantastic. We are over the moon excited to have them in our arms.”

What’s unique is the “no-brainer” middle name “Jain” — chosen by the parents in honor of their doctor, who is my cousin and a specialist in fertility and reproductive medicine, Dr. Akas Jain.

The Cullums tried unsuccessfully for years to have a baby, and then they sought the help of a specialist. Yet the miracle worker whose expertise contributed to the birth of the twins was not Dr. Akas Jain, but thousands of scientists and researchers whose hard work over decades have made fertility therapy a reality.

In some ways, we doctors are merely the deliverers of the therapy, which has been postulated, prepared and piloted, by innovators toiling at the lab bench and bedside day and night.

Much of this research in the United States is funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, and many other government agencies which support the national laboratories. And proudly our tax dollars go toward this collective success and innovation, “the U. S. Crown Jewel,” which gives lives, saves lives and prevents death, as well as being an economic engine.

We boast a 43 percent drop in all-cause mortality over a half-century, thanks to research by NIH scientists. Research and efforts in just the last six years on hospital-associated infections have led to 125,000 lives saved, with over $28 billion in cost savings.

Yet we are about to see a dramatic change, unless Congress continues its historic bipartisan support of science. Last month the Trump administration proposed cutting NIH funding by nearly 20 percent, in effect crippling innovation, invention and scientific medical research. The new budget titled “America First” would take away $5.8 billion from NIH, the largest cut proposed in its 90-year history.

I wonder, with such draconian cuts what will happen to our dream of curing cancer, eliminating infectious diseases like Ebola and Zika, or finding new treatments for diabetes and heart disease within our lifetimes?

An HIV patient in my clinic for whom I have cared for two decades is working, healthy and raising two beautiful teenagers. She even gave birth to the children while she was HIV positive and taking medications — medications developed with support from NIH-funded research a quarter century ago. Today, she manages a group of a dozen computer engineers, providing jobs and livelihoods for them and their families.

Contrary to the prevailing belief, the NIH budget of $32 billion does not fund a group of scientists or laboratories on the federal payroll in Washington DC. Rather 80 percent of the NIH funds support biomedical research and training programs across the nation, including 300,000 investigators at 2,500 universities. In my younger days, I too was a recipient of such a grant, and it helped make me who I am today.

If such cuts move forward, a generation of basic research scientists will be lost. Soon America will become second to China, which is training more PhDs in the natural sciences and engineering than we are. And China’s investment in research and development will surpass the US investment in just a few years.

To protest the cuts and the overall disregard of the new administration toward science, from climate change to environmental protection, a March for Science was held in Washington and across the country on Earth Day, April 22. Tens of thousands of scientists left their labs and in white coats walked in Washington.

ADVERTISEMENT

Those of us, doctors and scientists, who live the science every day and see its miracles must not be quiet or timid at this time. We need to let our colleagues, patients, and political representatives know how we are touched and how we touch other lives by the miracles of science each and every day.

Science is the truth we can bet our life on. A couple in Columbus, Ohio, did this and, now they have fantastic miracles, twin girls, in their lives, with the help of government funding for the National Institutes of Health.

Manoj Jain is an infectious disease physician and contributor to the Washington Post and the Commercial Appeal.  He can be reached at his self-titled site, Dr. Manoj Jain. 

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

A physician's 4-point plan to fix health care

June 8, 2017 Kevin 2
…
Next

You're disappointed with your health care. Here are 5 reasons why.

June 8, 2017 Kevin 3
…

Tagged as: Primary Care

Post navigation

< Previous Post
A physician's 4-point plan to fix health care
Next Post >
You're disappointed with your health care. Here are 5 reasons why.

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Manoj Jain, MD, MPH

  • 3 steps to a better health care system

    Manoj Jain, MD, MPH
  • How this physician transitions to becoming an empty nester

    Manoj Jain, MD, MPH
  • Health care in American is on life support, and the future is uncharted

    Manoj Jain, MD, MPH

Related Posts

  • Human elements: How Primo Levi brought science to life

    David B. Ney
  • Is social media a friend or foe of science?

    Michael Joyce, MD
  • Ethical humanism: life after #medbikini and an approach to reimagining professionalism

    Jay Wong
  • The life cycle of medication consumption

    Fery Pashang, PharmD
  • Take politics out of science and medicine

    Anonymous
  • My first end-of-life conversation

    Shereen Jeyakumar

More in Physician

  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    How to advance workforce development through research mentorship and evidence-based management

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • The truth about perfection and identity in health care

    Ryan Nadelson, MD
  • Civil discourse as a leadership competency: the case for curiosity in medicine

    All Levels Leadership
  • When a medical office sublease turns into a legal nightmare

    Ralph Messo, DO
  • Why the heart of medicine is more than science

    Ryan Nadelson, MD
  • How Ukrainian doctors kept diabetes care alive during the war

    Dr. Daryna Bahriy
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
    • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

      GJ van Londen, MD | Meds
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Why clinical research is a powerful path for unmatched IMGs

      Dr. Khutaija Noor | Education
    • Addressing menstrual health inequities in adolescents

      Callia Georgoulis | Conditions
    • How to advance workforce development through research mentorship and evidence-based management

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • The truth about perfection and identity in health care

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • Civil discourse as a leadership competency: the case for curiosity in medicine

      All Levels Leadership | Physician
    • Healing beyond the surface: Why proper chronic wound care matters

      Alvin May, MD | Conditions

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 2 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
    • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

      GJ van Londen, MD | Meds
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Why clinical research is a powerful path for unmatched IMGs

      Dr. Khutaija Noor | Education
    • Addressing menstrual health inequities in adolescents

      Callia Georgoulis | Conditions
    • How to advance workforce development through research mentorship and evidence-based management

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • The truth about perfection and identity in health care

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • Civil discourse as a leadership competency: the case for curiosity in medicine

      All Levels Leadership | Physician
    • Healing beyond the surface: Why proper chronic wound care matters

      Alvin May, MD | Conditions

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Science is the truth we can bet our life on
2 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...