The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has surprised the scientific community by announcing immediate cuts to funding for research infrastructure, with indirect costs being capped at 15%.
Research organizations that historically depended on NIH subsidies to pay up to 60% of their operating costs, such as lab facilities, security, and maintenance, could be destroyed by this decision.
Experts warned that the new changes will seriously cripple innovative medical research and that it is either expensive or academic institutions need to trim down their programs.
Yale School of Medicine’s Dr. Harlan Krumholz termed the action as a danger to scientific advancement. “We risk losing the very foundation that supports life-saving discoveries if we don’t fund infrastructure.”
The fallout is expected to hit private research institutions the hardest, potentially leading to layoffs and reduced innovation.
Dr. Carl Bergstrom of the University of Washington estimates that some universities will face budget shortfalls in the hundreds of millions.
Aside from budget implications, it might also spell doom for long-term medical research. Johns Hopkins University’s Dr. Theodore Iwashyna dreads the reality of fewer discoveries and less information passed on to the next generation.
“This isn’t just about budgets—it’s about the health and well-being of our children and grandchildren.”
As institutions brace for the impact, many are expected to challenge the decision legally.
Critics argue that rather than cutting funding, the NIH should engage in discussions about balancing research costs to sustain the U.S.’s position as a global leader in scientific discovery.
