SIGNATURES TO PUSH LAWMAKERS TO DO SOMETHING TO GET THAT MONEY BACK.
Man living with cancer goes door-to-door in effort to keep federal research going
Updated: 12:13 PM PST Nov 29, 2025
Dr. Peter Bridgman, a retired neurologist who has cancer, is a man on a mission to get funding restored for federal agencies that are conducting cancer research.Bridgman, 72, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2013. Multiple myeloma is a bone marrow cancer that is treatable with infusion therapies.The Yarmouth resident said he is doing well and is thankful for the treatments that are keeping him alive, but he is concerned about the future of cancer research.Advanced cancer treatment options are under development at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI), but the federal agencies face funding cuts in the billions.”NIH and the NCI expected small cuts like five or 10 percent, but they were completely floored by the 37 percent cut to the NCI,” Bridgman said. “Active research is going on and that might be curtailed. So by the time I need it, it may not be there for me.”Bridgman is now going door-to-door and asking his neighbors to sign an online petition calling for NIH and NCI funds to be restored to previous levels.”In order to save lives, we have to restore funding to close to what it was before. If we let the funding bounce up and down, researchers will go to other countries. They’ll go to the European Union. They’ll go to China, and we’ll lose all of that,” Bridgman said. “It would take decades to build it back, so that’s the risk. That’s the serious risk.”John Auble, one of Bridgman’s neighbors, said he was happy to sign the petition.”Overall, I think cancer is underfunded. So every time we have somebody who is willing to put in the time that he does, it’s really touching,” Auble said. “We need more Peters.”People who are interested in learning more about the petition can visit fightcancer.org.On Tuesday, Dec. 2, Bridgman and others from the American Cancer Society will hand deliver the petition signatures they have collected to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ office in Portland. They will then wait for Congress to reconvene and hope that research funding will be restored.
Dr. Peter Bridgman, a retired neurologist who has cancer, is a man on a mission to get funding restored for federal agencies that are conducting cancer research.
Bridgman, 72, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2013. Multiple myeloma is a bone marrow cancer that is treatable with infusion therapies.
The Yarmouth resident said he is doing well and is thankful for the treatments that are keeping him alive, but he is concerned about the future of cancer research.
Advanced cancer treatment options are under development at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI), but the federal agencies face funding cuts in the billions.
“NIH and the NCI expected small cuts like five or 10 percent, but they were completely floored by the 37 percent cut to the NCI,” Bridgman said. “Active research is going on and that might be curtailed. So by the time I need it, it may not be there for me.”
Bridgman is now going door-to-door and asking his neighbors to sign an online petition calling for NIH and NCI funds to be restored to previous levels.
“In order to save lives, we have to restore funding to close to what it was before. If we let the funding bounce up and down, researchers will go to other countries. They’ll go to the European Union. They’ll go to China, and we’ll lose all of that,” Bridgman said. “It would take decades to build it back, so that’s the risk. That’s the serious risk.”
John Auble, one of Bridgman’s neighbors, said he was happy to sign the petition.
“Overall, I think cancer is underfunded. So every time we have somebody who is willing to put in the time that he does, it’s really touching,” Auble said. “We need more Peters.”
People who are interested in learning more about the petition can visit fightcancer.org.
On Tuesday, Dec. 2, Bridgman and others from the American Cancer Society will hand deliver the petition signatures they have collected to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ office in Portland. They will then wait for Congress to reconvene and hope that research funding will be restored.