Key GOP senators push back against NIH funding cuts
Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.) and Susan Collins (Maine) expressed concern Monday about the impact on biomedical research of large cuts to overhead spending.
Key Republican senators began pushing back Monday against a policy change by the National Institutes of Health that would substantially cut funding for research overhead to universities, medical centers, and other grant recipients.
The policy change involves a mechanism that NIH uses to pay research facilities for overhead costs. Many research facilities get upwards of 50% extra on each grant to cover the indirect costs of research, such as administrative expenses and the cost of maintaining facilities. The NIH announced Friday that it was setting a 15% cap on those payments.
