STAT+: Trump administration cuts to health research is ‘an attack on Massachusetts’
Elected leaders in Massachusetts said the NIH policy change will interrupt crucial research, lead to job losses, and endanger the health of Americans.
Biomedical researchers in Massachusetts braced this weekend for drastic and sudden federal funding cuts which local officials say will upend scientific endeavors at universities and medical centers synonymous with the state’s reputation and economy.
The change — announced by Republican President Trump’s administration on Friday and set to take effect Monday — caps reimbursement rates from the National Institutes of Health at 15 percent for expenses that support research operations but aren’t directly tied to performing science.
The expenses are referred to as “indirect costs” and pay for a range of services, personnel, and facilities like laboratory space, maintenance staff, and utilities.
