MADISON, Wis. -- A leveling off in federal funding to major research universities like the University of Wisconsin-Madison has experts in the research field worried that a crisis is looming.

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Privately and publicly funded research is a billion-dollar business in Madison, and it affects the area residents' health and pocketbooks.

"I think this is a serious crisis for our country. It's going to have an impact on long-term health of not only research but the health of the people in the country," said UW School of Medicine and Public Health Dean Robert Golden.

Dr. Laura Knoll is a professor and researcher in the Microbiology and Immunology Department at UW-Madison. She said much of her work focuses on making the food supply safe. Knoll said she is concerned that the budget crunch will put her project in jeopardy.

"If I put that proposal in today, it wouldn't get funded because it would be too risky," Knoll said.

She said she is developing a vaccine against a parasite that is the third-leading cause of food-borne deaths in the U.S. Like many breakthrough studies, she said her study began with a shot in the dark.

"If you don't roll the dice at least once in awhile, how are you going to know what's really important to do the biochemistry, the cell biology, the follow through on?" Knoll said.

As other nations begin to invest in research, the U.S. is starting to see top researchers leave due to better positions elsewhere.

"We're beginning to see the tide go in the other direction, where people are leaving here, including senior scientific leaders, to accept positions in Singapore and other parts of the world," Golden said.

Knoll said her grant is coming up for renewal, and funding for her work could run dry. Because of this dilemma, she said that her search for a vaccine had to take a backseat to the search for money.

"I've written for every grant I possibly can, and I've written close to 20 grants these last two years," Knoll said.

"It takes them out of the lab and distracts them from training the students and writing grants has always been part of a scientist's job, but now it's such a dominant part," said Dr. Jo Handelsman, UW Department of Bacteriology Chair.

Officials said the crisis was triggered by Congress after it leveled off funding to the NIH, which doles out grants for research. With less money available, fewer grants are being awarded and fewer researchers are being trained. Knoll said that her students are seeing the writing on the wall.

"There's only one that wants to go into academic science and do what I do. I mean, they're very discouraged," she said. "If we're only training a third, how can we predict? We're losing some stars -- I'm sure of it."

If Congress doesn't reverse its course, Knoll said the most devastating effects may not be felt for years.

"It's the creativity for the future that's not getting funded today, and that, 15-20 years down the road, is going to have the impact," Knoll said.

"We have to turn it around now. We have to get the message to our federal government that this is not an area where we should be cutting corners," Golden said. "Once you've lost your seed corn, it takes an entire generation to replenish it."

Note: This is the second of a two-part series focusing on research funding and how scientists and school administrators are facing shrinking budgets.