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The US company overseeing medical analysis has introduced a significant reduce in funding to universities and analysis facilities, a transfer strongly condemned by scientists and teachers who say work on most cancers and different illnesses will endure.
The Nationwide Institutes of Well being (NIH) stated late Friday it was setting a 15 p.c restrict on its funding of “indirect,” or overhead, prices linked to analysis.
That represents a dramatic drop, amounting to billions of {dollars}, from the oblique billings of as much as 60 p.c now charged by some organizations, the company stated.
“This change will save more than $4B a year effective immediately,” the official NIH account stated on X.
It stated it was “vital to ensure that as many funds as possible go toward direct scientific research costs.”
The bills being focused embody upkeep, gear and administrative prices at analysis laboratories.
The reduce may have an effect on analysis on illnesses like most cancers and neurodegenerative circumstances like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s illnesses, scientists stated.
“This is a surefire way to cripple lifesaving research and innovation,” Matt Owens, president of COGR, which represents analysis institutes and college medical facilities, stated in an announcement to AFP.
“America’s competitors will relish this self-inflicted wound,” he stated. “We urge NIH leaders to rescind this dangerous policy before its harms are felt by Americans.”
Jeffrey Flier, former dean of the Harvard College medical school, stated on X that the method by President Donald Trump’s administration “was designed not to improve the process, but to harm institutions, researchers and biomed research.”
He stated it might “cause chaos and harm biomedical research and researchers.”
The White Home on Saturday defended the transfer, saying it was bringing its oblique price charges in keeping with metrics utilized by non-public sector foundations.
“NIH announced a new indirect costs policy that is in line with what research institutions receive from private foundations,” stated an announcement.
“The indirect cost rate is intended to cover overhead and the federal government has been paying an exorbitantly high rate.”
Establishments probably affected by the cuts stated the oblique prices pay for “essential” instruments that allow analysis.
“The targeted funds pay for the essential tools, facilities, and support personnel that make research possible, sustaining laboratories to house experiments, electricity to keep centrifuges spinning, and computers to protect clinical data behind life-saving medical treatments,” stated a spokesperson for Johns Hopkins College.
Scientists have expressed concern in current weeks on the lack of transparency as the brand new administration removes reams of epidemiological knowledge from health-related authorities web sites.
The NIH announcement was saluted by Elon Musk, the billionaire Trump advisor main an effort to drastically trim federal spending.
Some Republican lawmakers additionally welcomed the measure, which is prone to have its biggest affect on prestigious analysis universities like Harvard, Yale and Johns Hopkins.
© 2025 AFP
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Scientists deplore sharp US reduce in medical analysis funding (2025, February 9)
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