The route to a cancer cure isn’t a straight line or even a single line. It’s the paths of thousands of researchers who walk into their labs every day, driven by hope and determination, to unlock and solve the mysteries of this widespread fatal disease.

Cancer research in the U.S. is backed by a complex system of interdependent funding. Partners include academia, pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology start-ups, federal agencies and private foundations. These groups rely heavily on each other and, when one struggles, the entire system suffers.

Here, Jeffrey MacKeigan explains how cancer research funding works and what happens if there are cuts to those budgets. MacKeigan is a cancer biologist, a senior advisor for the Michigan State University Office of Research and Innovation and professor in theDepartment of Pediatrics and Human Development in the MSU College of Human Medicine.