On Mar. 1, 2013, as required by statute, President Obama signed an order that initiated the budget sequestration. The sequestration required NIH to cut 5 percent or $1.55 billion of its fiscal year 2013 budget.

The NIH was required by law to apply the cut evenly across all programs, projects, and activities, which were primarily NIH institutes and centers. This means every area of medical research was affected.