The National Institutes of Health directive to cap reimbursement of “indirect costs” for medical and scientific research is under a temporary pause by a federal judge.
The University at Buffalo is one of the many institutions that say they rely on that NIH funding source to pay for lab equipment, facilities, IT services, and other functions.
While the Trump Administration branded the cuts simply as “overhead,” UB Vice President for Research and Economic Development Dr. Venu Govindaraju argued that money is vital and adds up.
"If you just look at the grants that we have already received at the University at Buffalo, if you just let them run through their term, that's a $47 million cut," said Govindaraju. "Which means, as we go forward, that's how much less we have to have world class facilities to help save lives and come up with the new drugs."
Supporters of the directive, which would cap those indirect costs at 15 percent, say it would free up about $4 billion nationwide to "ensure that as many funds as possible go towards direct scientific research costs."
But U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand argued reimbursing indirect costs is ensuring that scientific research even happens at all.
"It funds microscopes, precision climate controls, liquid nitrogen that is needed for the cryogenic freezing, internet, electricity. Like, it's part of doing the work, and so they're trying to micromanage how a research institution actually does their research," said Gillibrand. "Based on no measurables, based on fantasy arguments, based on talking points, not based on knowledge. Not based on information about what is actually wasteful [...] so it's fantasy."
NIH research has pegged the average reimbursement rate to institutions between 27 and 28 percent. According to the school, UB itself has averaged around 40 percent reimbursement for indirect costs on NIH grants.
A hearing on the 15 percent cap is scheduled for Feb. 21. The lawsuit which temporarily blocked the order was filed by a collection of associations representing American hospitals and medical schools.
