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The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito Chair Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations Washington, D.C. 20510	The Honorable Robert Aderholt Chair Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies U.S. House Committee on Appropriations Washington, D.C. 20515
The Honorable Tammy Baldwin Ranking Member Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations Washington, D.C. 20510	The Honorable Rosa DeLauro Ranking Member Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies U.S. House Committee on Appropriations Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Chairs Capito and Aderholdt and Ranking Members Baldwin and DeLauro,

We, the 66 undersigned organizations representing public health, patients and biomedical researchers request at least $7.15 billion for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and at least $51.303 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) overall for fiscal year (FY) 2027, representing an 8.7% increase over FY2026 levels. This funding is critical to ensure that the nation can respond to current and future disease threats.

NIAID has a unique mandate to better understand, treat and prevent infectious, immunologic and allergic diseases. The Institute plays an essential role in addressing the impacts of allergy and asthma on human well-being and infectious threats, such as pneumonia, norovirus, Lyme disease, tuberculosis, pandemic influenza and Valley fever. NIAID-funded researchers are working toward eliminating some of the world’s most serious health threats, including antimicrobial resistance. NIAID-funded research has fueled some of the biggest public health success stories in recent decades, such as the transformation of HIV/AIDS from a death sentence to a treatable, chronic condition, thanks to the development of antiretroviral agents and the development of treatments, vaccines and diagnostics for RSV, tuberculosis, Ebola, type 1 diabetes, malaria and more. Additionally, NIAID funding is critical to training the public health workforce. Students in NIAID-funded training programs and laboratories go on to work in public health agencies, clinical settings, academic research and industry.

Thanks to long-term and sustained support from Congress for NIAID over the years, the U.S. has achieved major victories over deadly, disabling and costly diseases.

These achievements include, but are not limited to: 

• Scientists developed new technologies to identify geographic hot spots for Aedes mosquitoes—a type of mosquito that can spread diseases, such as dengue, Zika and chikungunya. The tool is poised to deliver targeted interventions to fight dengue and other diseases in the U.S. and communities across the globe. 
• NIAID-funded research has identified treatment that substantially increases the amount of peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, milk and wheat that multi-food allergic children as young as 1 year could consume without potentially fatal allergic reaction, as research is ongoing in prevention of the development of food allergy in infancy. Currently 8% of children in the U.S. have a food allergy, or 2 in every classroom. NIAID is also sponsoring clinical trials to understand how maternal consumption of peanuts and eggs during pregnancy and breastfeeding prevents babies from developing allergies.
• A clinical trial funded through NIAID found that the monoclonal antibody mepolizumab reduced asthma attacks by more than 25% in children and adolescents with severe asthma. Asthma affects 1 in 13 Americans, including 20 million adults and over 5 million children.
• NIAID-funded research spurred the development of the first vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). This treatment will help to prevent an estimated 160,000 hospitalizations and 10,000 deaths of older adults in the U.S. and is projected to save up to $4 billion in health care costs.
• NIAID researchers discovered a new species of bacteria in the gut that may trigger rheumatoid arthritis (RA), offering new avenues for treatment and prevention. An estimated 50 million Americans suffer from 1 or more autoimmune diseases, including 1.3 million adults with rheumatoid arthritis.
• Each year, drug-resistant infections impact more than 3 million Americans, killing at least 50,000 people in the U.S. NIAID-funded research is essential to combating drug resistance and developing new medicines for drug-resistant infectious threats. It is projected that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could become the leading cause of death globally by 2050. Currently, treating the 6 most common antibiotic resistance threats costs the U.S. more than $4.6 billion annually. 

We strongly urge you and your colleagues to work together on FY2027 funding bills and to ensure strong funding for the life-saving work of NIAID so that American ingenuity can continue to forge a healthier, safer and more equitable world for all. Please reach out to Nicole Zimmerman (nzimmerman@asmusa.org) at the American Society for Microbiology if you have any questions.

Sincerely, 

AIDS Action Baltimore
AIDS Foundation Chicago
Alpha-gal Alliance Action Fund
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology 
American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP)
American Association of Immunologists
American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges
American Institute of Biological Sciences
American Psychological Association Services
American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI)
American Society for Microbiology
American Society for Virology
American Society of Nephrology
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
American Thoracic Society 
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research
APLA Health
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC)
Association of Nurses in AIDS Care
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
Autoimmune Association
AVAC
Benaroya Research Institute
Boston University
Clear Labs
Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, North America
Dysautonomia International
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences
Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research
Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC)
HealthHIV
HIV Medicine Association
IAVI
Infectious Disease Society of America
International Foundation for Gastrointestinal Disorders (IFFGD)
La Jolla Institute for Immunology
Latino Commission on AIDS 
Lupus Foundation of America
Lupus Research Alliance
MEAction
Monell Chemical Senses Center
National Association for Biomedical Research (NABR)
National Black Gay Men’s Advocacy Coalition
National Eczema Association
NMAC
Open Medicine Foundation
Patient-Led Research Collaborative
Peggy Lillis Foundation
Penn State Health/ Penn State College of Medicine
PrEP4All
Research!America
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
Save HIV Funding Campaign 
Sepsis Alliance
Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
Society for Public Health Education
Society of Toxicology
Solve M.E.
TB Alliance
Texas Healthcare and Bioscience Institute
The Cytokine Society
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB)
Treatment Action Group
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Washington State University