Framingham Heart Study Facing $4 Million in Cuts, Layoffs

The landmark Framingham Heart Study is facing $4 million in federal budget cuts starting Aug. 1, because of the federal budget sequestration.

One of the most important studies in the history of medicine will be sharply curtailed as a result of the federal budget cuts, described Forbes magazine.

The Framingham Heart Study has been told by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute that it will lose $4 million of its funding, or 40 percent of its federal funding.

Despite the cuts and pending layoffs, the historic study will continue, says the Framingham Heart Study's website.

The funding cut will result in a reduction in workforce affecting 19 staff from a variety of clinical and administrative areas, as well as reductions in clinic exams and lab operations, said the Study's website.

Research will continue, but will be affected by the planned elimination of the examinations, which also are used in ancillary studies, said the Study's website.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute stated that it was “committed to sustaining the Framingham Heart Study.”

The Framingham Heart Study began in 1948 by recruiting an original cohort of 5,209 men and women between the ages of 30 and 62 from Framingham, who had not yet developed overt symptoms of cardiovascular disease or suffered a heart attack or stroke.

Since that time the Study has added an Offspring Cohort in 1971, the Omni Cohort in 1994, a Third Generation Cohort in 2002, a New Offspring Spouse Cohort in 2003, and a Second Generation Omni Cohort in 2003.

Over the years, careful monitoring of the Framingham Study population has led to the identification of major CVD risk factors, as well as valuable information on the effects of these factors such as blood pressure, blood triglyceride and cholesterol levels, age, gender, and psychosocial issues. 

The Framingham Heart Study is linked to dozens of medical research milestones.