A detailed retrospective traces the NIH’s origins and warns that widespread grant terminations in 2025 and a White House proposal to cut the NIH budget by 40% for 2026 threaten the agency’s ability to fund basic science and train biomedical researchers. The author, an economics and public‑policy researcher with long NIH ties, documents how NIH support underpins therapeutics development, workforce training and biotech formation. The analysis highlights recent funding disruptions and frames the proposed cut as a structural shock to U.S. biomedical research funding streams. NIH has historically played a central role in translating basic science into clinical advances; reduced funding would likely delay grant awards, slow discovery pipelines and strain academic–industry collaborations.