WED AM News: UW leader and former federal science advisor slams research cuts; Bankers signal greater confidence in state economy

July 22, 2026

— Federal research funding cuts are having “unacceptable” impacts on scientific progress, according to the vice chancellor for research at UW-Madison.

Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska spoke yesterday on a panel in Milwaukee organized by the Wisconsin Technology Council, focused on how shifting federal priorities are impacting innovation in the state.

She previously served on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology during the first Trump administration, and was later appointed to the National Science Board under the Biden administration.

Fifty-one percent of the federal funding that goes to UW-Madison comes from the National Institutes of Health, while the next largest source is the National Science Foundation with about 17%, Grejner-Brzezinska said yesterday. Other agencies all make up shares in the single digits.

“NIH at the moment is roughly at the level of about 40% spending equivalent to the previous years,” she said yesterday, noting its approach has changed to “frontload” awards to the detriment of some research institutions.

“The priorities of the organization have changed,” she added, pointing to disruptions to research on cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and more. “This is completely unacceptable. The research is not a stop-and-go operation, and I don’t think the federal government fully understands that this is the case.”

At the same time, research spending at the National Science Foundation is at about 20% of usual levels, Grejner-Brzezinska said.

“Only consistent investment, and investment which starts from foundational research all the way to translation can sustain us as … global leaders,” she said.

Meanwhile, Sanford Health Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Jennifer Meece yesterday emphasized the disruption to community-level cancer research stemming from federal research cuts. The health system has an NIH-funded research program offering clinical trials to cancer patients, but funding cuts are jeopardizing those efforts, she said.

“That came to the forefront a lot, right, when federal cuts were coming to research,” she said. “Taking away clinical trials for our patients, for our communities … It also isn’t just about offering a clinical trial, it’s about attracting providers, physicians who want to practice medicine and research.”

Some of these concerns were echoed by Ali Abedi, vice chancellor for research and innovation at the UW-Milwaukee, who argued the country has “started to drift from our roots” by diverting resources away from the national research enterprise.

To combat the trend, he called for greater collaboration between the state’s top institutions.

“Now, collaboration is not a luxury anymore … it is a necessity, especially in Wisconsin,” he said. “If we don’t work together, we are going to be left behind.”

While panelists yesterday raised concerns about the new research support paradigm, Rob Baranowski of the Wisconsin Center for Technology Commercialization also noted funding has begun to flow through Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, or SBIR and STTR.

While funding for the small business-focused programs lapsed late last year, it was reauthorized earlier this year and the federal government now seems to be trying to “rush a lot of money out the door” before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 1, Baranowski said.

“People are getting awards again, and it’s very promising,” he added.

— Bankers in Wisconsin are signaling greater confidence in the state economy in the latest survey by the Wisconsin Bankers Association.

Eleven percent of respondents to the group’s mid-year 2026 survey rated the current health of the state economy as excellent, while 68% rated it as good and 20% rated it as fair.

In the last survey at the end of 2025, 79% rated it good and 21% rated it fair, with no bankers calling it excellent at the time.

“The collected data indicates an encouraging level of confidence in Wisconsin’s economy, while revealing challenges customers continue to face, such as housing affordability and rise in fraud,” WBA President and CEO Rose Oswald Poels said in a statement on the findings.

The outlook for the coming six months was relatively stable, with 25% expecting the state economy to grow over that time, 14% expecting it to weaken and 61% predicting no change. In the previous survey, those percentages were 28%, 17% and 55%, respectively.

Meanwhile, the survey points to rising demand for various loan categories.

When asked about current demand for business loans, 16% of bankers said it’s excellent, 55% said good and 30% said fair. In the past survey, those were 4%, 60% and 36%, respectively.

A similar question on commercial real estate loan demand had 23% saying it’s excellent, 52% saying good and 25% saying fair. The past survey had 9% saying excellent, 69% saying good and 22% saying fair.

Respondents said the top concerns for banks include fraud prevention, workforce recruitment and retention and the “impact of nontraditional financial institutions.”

See the release.

— Elephas Biosciences has announced a partnership with Invitrocue of Singapore, through which the Madison company’s immunotherapy response platform will be marketed in parts of Southeast Asia.

Invitrocue is a personalized oncology business that specializes in 3D cell-based cancer models and genetic profiling. Under the new partnership, the company will serve as commercial partner for Elephas’ “elive” platform in Singapore and Malaysia.

The platform is designed to assess how patients’ bodies will respond to immunotherapies, using live biopsies to replicate the “native tumor microenvironment” and test these cancer treatments.

Invitrocue’s Angsana Molecular & Diagnostics Laboratory in Singapore will offer a base for distributing the platform across Southeast Asia, yesterday’s announcement notes, calling it “one of the most important growth regions” for advanced personalized cancer care.

Maneesh Arora, founder and CEO of Elephas, says the partnership marks “an important step” toward expanding access to the elive platform.

“Through this partnership we have an opportunity to provide researchers and clinicians with functional insights while broadening personalized cancer care throughout Southeast Asia,” Arora said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Invitrocue CEO Steven Fang says the platform’s functional response data paired with its own drug testing service opens up new possibilities for personalized oncology research.

Financial terms of the agreement aren’t being disclosed.

See the release.

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— The Kenosha Innovation Neighborhood and other southeastern Wisconsin groups have rolled out a new startup pitch competition.

The organizations yesterday announced the 262 Founder Pitch competition will be held Nov. 10 at the Kenosha Innovation Center, bringing together economic development groups in Kenosha, Racine and Walworth counties.

Entrepreneurs that live or work in those counties as well as Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties are being invited to apply by Sept. 1. The competition is restricted to adult U.S. citizens.

Startups can apply to compete in three categories: intelligent manufacturing, biohealth and local impact. But organizers say startups across all sectors can apply, spotlighting those grouped under advanced manufacturing, biohealth, clean energy and technology.

See the release.

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