My longevity is imperiled by presidential actions taken recently to curtail research funded by the National Institutes of Health. Although I am only one individual affected by these unprecedented moves, my situation applies to millions of patients with cancer and other life-threatening diseases — from asthma and diabetes to cardiovascular disease and alcoholism — reliant upon NIH-funded research.

I am in the unlucky ranks of non-smoking women with lung cancer. My tumor was discovered 12 years ago by accident — an “incidental finding” — at Walter Reed Army Hospital when I was undergoing a CT scan for another reason.

If it hadn’t been found, I would have eventually begun coughing and experiencing shortness of breath and chest pain. Nobody would have suspected lung cancer, given my lifestyle and fitness level. In effect, I would most likely not be alive today to write this piece, had it not been for enhanced technology able to detect and characterize tiny tumors, thanks to NIH.

Three weeks later, a lobe of my lung was removed, and we hoped for a “surgical cure.” For the next four years, I felt healthy and fortunate that it was caught and acted upon early. But alas, during one of my routine six-month........

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