As federal funding dries up, Annapolis faces pressure to protect Johns Hopkins and the state’s biotech economy

Maryland’s economy runs on knowledge. From the bustling medical campuses of Johns Hopkins to the defense labs along the I-95 corridor, science and engineering research isn’t just an academic pursuit here—it’s a major industry.

That industry is now under threat. President Donald Trump’s sweeping cuts to federal research spending—targeting more than $3 billion nationwide, with deep reductions in grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation—have rattled university leaders and state officials alike.

For Maryland, the stakes are unusually high. Johns Hopkins University has been the nation’s top recipient of federal research dollars for more than four decades, pulling in over $3 billion in awards last year alone. Those funds fuel work on everything from cancer immunotherapies to artificial intelligence systems for cybersecurity—research that spins off biotech startups, attracts corporate partners, and supports thousands of high-paying jobs.

A Strategic Asset at Risk

University research is the cornerstone of Maryland’s $17 billion life sciences sector, which includes global pharmaceutical players, emerging biotech ventures, and the nation’s largest concentration of federal R&D facilities outside Washington, D.C.

But basic research is fragile. Grants are the lifeblood of laboratories; without them, graduate students scatter, projects stall, and equipment sits idle. “Science doesn’t do well with stop-and-start,” said a senior administrator at Johns Hopkins. “You lose people, you lose momentum, and you lose discoveries.”

The Trump administration’s funding rollback—paired with proposals to raise taxes on university endowments and curb foreign student visas—has left many institutions scrambling to cover shortfalls. At Johns Hopkins, several major multi-year grants are already at risk.

States Step In

Massachusetts has responded with a $400 million proposal to shore up its own research institutions, half for public universities and half for private universities and academic hospitals. Maryland, which ranks near the top nationally for per-capita federal research funding, has yet to unveil a comparable plan.

Policy analysts say the state could establish an emergency R&D fund to bridge lost federal dollars, drawing on contributions from corporations, philanthropies, and venture investors. Because the threatened grants have already been vetted through the federal peer-review process, Annapolis wouldn’t need to wade into scientific judgments—it could simply keep approved projects running.

Matching requirements could stretch state dollars further, encouraging universities to raise additional funds from donors or industry partners. The pharmaceutical and biotech sectors, in particular, have a vested interest: NIH-funded research contributed to more than 99% of all new U.S. drugs approved between 2010 and 2019.

A Wider Economic Concern

Research isn’t just about intellectual prestige—it’s an economic engine. From 1996 to 2020, academic research in the U.S. generated 141,000 patents, spun out 18,000 companies, and contributed $1 trillion to GDP. In Maryland, that translates into high-skill jobs, venture capital inflows, and a thriving innovation ecosystem anchored by Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland system.

“Maryland is uniquely positioned to lead in this moment,” said a Baltimore biotech executive. “We have the institutions, the industry partners, and the talent pipeline. What we need now is the political will to act before we start losing ground to other states—and other countries.”

An Urgent Decision

The alternative, analysts warn, is a slow erosion of Maryland’s scientific edge. Talented researchers could decamp to Europe or Asia, where governments are ramping up funding. Promising therapies and technologies might be developed overseas instead of in Baltimore or College Park.

Federal support for university science may one day return to pre-cut levels. But until it does, Maryland’s leaders face a choice: step in to protect a vital economic sector, or risk watching decades of investment and leadership in research slip away.

• • Create Emergency R&D Bridge Fund to cover canceled federal awards
  • Offer matching grants to spur industry and philanthropic contributions
  • Expand state research tax credits for corporate partners
  • Launch public–private innovation consortium anchored by Johns Hopkins and UM system

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