PITTSBURGH — Just over 40 years ago, the steel industry that dominated the Pittsburgh skyline and economy vanished. The industry that had employed 90,000 people in western Pennsylvania shuttered, and as a result, hundreds of thousands of people moved away. The city’s unemployment rate hit a whopping 17%.
But since President Donald Trump has been sworn into office with a pledge toward cutting fat and improving efficiencies, a revival has begun from an unlikely source: the University of Pittsburgh and neighboring Carnegie Mellon University, which draw to the city medical and scientific researchers, tech startups, and innovators to do their work at these universities. In fact, university presidents across the region and state have been trying to unpack which, if any, of their programs would be on the chopping block in terms of funding for biomedical research.
Today, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, UPMC, is the state’s largest private employer with a workforce of about 100,000. In 2007, UPMC had so many floors on top of the U.S. Steel Tower, the tallest building in Appalachia, it earned the right to mount signs reading UPMC to the top of each of the three sides.
Because so much of Pittsburgh, as well as the rest of the state’s economy, is driven by educational and medical institutions, Sen. David McCormick (R-PA) is communicating directly with university presidents across the commonwealth to communicate his support for those critical research projects.
The University of Pittsburgh alone receives nearly $700 million in National Institutes of Health funding, which feeds Pitt’s researchers who are often at the forefront of lifesaving medical breakthroughs discoveries. The uncertainty caused by the threat of NIH funding cuts has led local news stories for weeks.
McCormick has said he is in total support of scrutinizing and creating transparency around the way the NIH is funding programs. He also said he is in support of the DOGE effort to do that.
At the same time, the newly sworn-in senator is not in support of cutting grants midstream because it is bad for the taxpayer. That’s because once the money is invested, stopping it midstream makes little sense.
McCormick said he is strongly in favor of asking some very fundamental questions for all NIH funds going forward in terms of making sure they are focused on the right things, such as the universities are paying their fair share and taxpayers getting a fair deal.
McCormick said he sent letters to all eight Pennsylvania university leaders outlining his position. He also met with most of them personally to explain his position on the future of NIH funding. His goal is to advance life-saving scientific research while being better stewards of U.S. tax dollars.
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According to McCormick’s Senate office, Pennsylvania receives $2.2 billion in NIH awards funding, which supports 21,740 jobs and an economic activity totaling $5.31 billion. In comparison, California receives $5.15 billion in NIH funding and supports 55,324 jobs. New York receives $3.55 billion in NIH funding and supports 30,522 jobs. Massachusetts receives $3.46 billion in NIH funding and supports 30,111 jobs.
Of the top universities in the country to receive NIH funds, Pennsylvania is home to two: the University of Pennsylvania at No. 3 (receiving $703,217,343) and the University of Pittsburgh at No. 6 (receiving $658,312,303). In Pennsylvania, there are currently 6,994 active NIH awards. Higher education institutions and hospitals power nearly 13% of all jobs in Philadelphia, approximately 495,000 employees and $33.8 billion in income for the region.