The National Institutes of Health announced a new funding policy. The agency is capping some costs for research, which many scientists say will hurt public health.
Medical researchers are expressing concern about how capping "indirect costs" of grants at 15% will impact scientific research.
“I don’t know how I would do my research if I didn’t have clinical trial nurses and space to do it," said Dr. Davey Smith, a professor of medicine at UC San Diego. "And I don't know how you would be able to fund that type of research space, and nurses and staff without those indirect costs."
The NIH’s public funding has historically gone to a wide range of institutions.
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“NIH spent more than $35 Billion in Fiscal Year 2023 on almost 50,000 competitive grants to more than 300,000 researchers at more than 2,500 universities, medical schools, and other research institutions across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Of this funding, approximately $26 billion went to direct costs for research, while $9 billion was allocated to overhead through NIH’s indirect cost rate,” the agency said in a statement.
Many institutions exceed 15% of grants on “indirect costs.”
“We’re in the 50 some off percent range. It depends on which part of campus you are and what kind of research that’s performed,” Smith said.
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Public funding contributes to the necessary research to create vaccines and treatments for various ailments.
"The group has for decades has funded basic science research, and which is some of the research that I also do, and that fundamental research then leads to the discoveries for the next cancer therapy, for the next kidney failure therapy or for the next vaccine for the bird flu,” Smith said.
The NIH said the new funding policy will apply to both current and future research grants. The concern spreads past the medical research community to those who pay attention to and benefit from the research.
“Without the money, there’s no trials, and there’s no innovation, and there’s a standstill in public health which should be a grave concern to you, me and everybody,” said Diana Güthe, the founder of Survivor Corps.
Over 20 U.S. Attorneys General sued the Trump administration, asking a federal judge to temporarily block funding cuts to the NIH. The lawsuit is challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to unilaterally cut indirect cost reimbursements.
The lawsuit was filed in Massachusetts by the attorneys general of the following states: Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.
