# Multimedia 

Multimedia 

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Apple Podcasts 

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Spotify 

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Cato Weekly Podcast • December 2, 2025 

# NIH’s Lost Mission 

Cato adjunct scholars Terence Kealey and John Early join Ryan Bourne to discuss the pair’s new Cato working paper *Mission Lost: How NIH Leaders Stole Its Promise to America*. Kealey and Early detail how the National Institutes of Health’s shift from financing mission-led research to funding basic science has reduced its effectiveness in improving Americans’ health, all the while crowding out cutting-edge commercial science, and funnelling taxpayer dollars to a range of questionable projects.

#### Show Notes 

[![National Institutes of Health (NIH)](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2025-11/national-institutes-of-health%20Cropped.jpg?itok=RkHioz0V)](https://www.cato.org/working-paper/mission-lost-how-nih-leaders-stole-its-promise-america) 

Study 

### [Mission Lost: How NIH Leaders Stole Its Promise to America](/working-paper/mission-lost-how-nih-leaders-stole-its-promise-america) 

By [John F. Early](https://www.cato.org/people/john-f-early) and [Terence Kealey](https://www.cato.org/people/terence-kealey) 

The National Institutes of Health describes its mission as to advance research that will “enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness” for Americans.

[![maha commission](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2025-05/maha%20commission%202.jpg?itok=YEVjgrYF)](https://www.cato.org/blog/premade-conclusions-post-hoc-data-problem-maha-report) 

blog 

### [Premade Conclusions, Post-Hoc Data: The Problem with the MAHA Report](/blog/premade-conclusions-post-hoc-data-problem-maha-report) 

By [Jeffrey A. Singer](https://www.cato.org/people/jeffrey-singer), [Terence Kealey](https://www.cato.org/people/terence-kealey), and [Bautista Vivanco](https://www.cato.org/people/bautista-vivanco) 

We must resist the temptation of prepackaged conclusions and demand evidence-driven thinking, not ideology in disguise.

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

[![Ryan Bourne](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Ryan%20Bourne.jpg?itok=nv8-2r7d)](/people/ryan-bourne) 

##### [Ryan Bourne](/people/ryan-bourne)

R. Evan Scharf Chair for the Public Understanding of Economics, Cato Institute

[ 

](https://x.com/MrRBourne) [ 

](mailto:rbourne@cato.org) 

[![John_Early_cropped-3.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-07/John_Early_cropped-3.jpg?itok=meVzSEMd)](/people/john-f-early) 

##### [John F. Early](/people/john-f-early)

Adjunct Scholar; President, Vital Few

[![Terence Kealy's Portrait](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-05/terence_kealey.jpg?itok=oaB2Sc_-)](/people/terence-kealey) 

##### [Terence Kealey](/people/terence-kealey)

Adjunct Scholar