NIH Cuts Billions Of Dollars In Biomedical Research Funding

The Washington Post (2/8, A1, Diamond, Y. Johnson, H. Sun) reported, “The Trump administration is cutting billions of dollars in biomedical research funding, alarming academic leaders who said it would imperil their universities and medical centers and drawing swift rebukes from Democrats who predicted dire consequences for scientific research.” The move, which was “announced Friday night by the National Institutes of Health, drastically cut its funding for ‘indirect’ costs related to research.” According to the Post, “these are the administrative requirements, facilities and other operations that many scientists say are essential.” NBC News (2/8, Marquez, Bush) reported NIH “announced Friday that the agency is making cuts to grants that support research institutions by limiting the amount of indirect funding for research projects to just 15%.” In the federal “agency’s announcement, the NIH’s Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration, or OPERA, wrote that $9 billion of the $35 billion total spent on research grants in fiscal year 2023 was allocated from the agency for indirect costs, which cover things like equipment, operations, maintenance, accounting and personnel.” The Hill (2/8, Zehra) reported, “The change will take effect on Monday, and will save roughly $4 billion annually, per the NIH.”