Sound Off: Our Research Matters

Abel Kho, professor of medicine and preventive medicine in the Feinberg School of Medicine and co-director of the Northwestern Network for Collaborative Intelligence  

Our data science and artificial intelligence research develops new analytic methods to help doctors determine who is at risk of life-threatening side effects from medications or what treatments work better than others. You might not be immediately affected by funding cuts, but in the future, when you or someone you love suffers side effects or doesn’t respond to treatment, we will dearly miss the passionate researchers who were working to figure it out. 

Elizabeth McNally, the Elizabeth J. Ward Professor of Genetic Medicine and director of the Center for Genetic Medicine in Feinberg  

My group discovers genetic mutations that cause heart and muscle diseases. We use this information clinically to diagnose and provide optimal care. I look forward to a future where we prevent heart failure, arrhythmias and muscular dystrophy — but this requires investment in research. Since World War II, when the government first began supporting biomedical research, we’ve seen tremendous advances in health care. The learnings from this research fuel the biotech industry, which is willing to take financial risks to develop new treatments. Federal research dollars are a wise investment, yielding more than $2.50 for every $1 in National Institutes of Health funding. It has been disheartening to hear people disregard the importance of federally funded research, especially when their lives have directly benefited.  

Jian Cao, the Cardiss Collins Professor of Mechanical Engineering and director of the Northwestern Initiative for Manufacturing Science and Innovation in the McCormick School of Engineering  

Far from the outdated image of being dirty and dull, modern manufacturing is clean, smart and cognitive. These advances stem from the fundamental understanding of materials, innovations in processes, and computational tools that reveal and predict phenomena. At Northwestern, we build on basic science to develop flexible manufacturing systems that address supply chain challenges and create computational tools that enable rapid design and optimization, accelerating the path from discovery to real-world impact. 

Benjamin Jones, the Gordon and Llura Gund Family Professor of Entrepreneurship and co-director of the Ryan Institute on Complexity in the Kellogg School of Management   

Scientific progress is the quiet engine behind our prosperity. Consider decades of remarkable advances in manufacturing, communications and computing, or the myriad tools we now deploy to fight threats to our health. All of this depends on scientific discoveries that have unlocked new doorways to progress. To underinvest in that engine is to sell our future short. We owe it to ourselves, our country and to humanity to place science at the center of our national agenda. 

Dashun Wang, the Kellogg Chair of Technology, director of the Center for Science of Science and Innovation, co-director of the Ryan Institute on Complexity and director of the Northwestern Innovation Institute 

Science has been a key engine for innovation and human progress. But I also like to think about science as the little engine that could. If we could make research and development even 5% more efficient, the social returns would be immense — we could live longer, healthier and happier lives. 

Danielle Tullman-Ercek, professor of chemical and biological engineering, co-director of the Center for Synthetic Biology 

It is rewarding to see my lab’s research, such as new potential cancer therapies, move out of the lab and toward helping patients via both startups and established companies. But without federal funding for some of our early moonshot ideas, we would never have gotten this far. It is humbling to realize that I could not have predicted which ideas would be the biggest successes — and scary to consider what lifesaving treatments may not be invented if such funding is limited or unavailable.