NEW YORK – The New York Genome Center is calling on researchers across the US to sign a petition opposing recent plans to cap indirect costs for National Institutes of Health grants.
In an editorial published in Cell on Friday, NYGC CEO and Columbia University professor Tom Maniatis issued a call to action in response to a proposal by the Trump administration earlier this month to reduce money paid to institutions to support grantees to 15 percent, below the national average and far smaller than some negotiated rates of over 50 percent. NIH estimated that this would reduce spending by approximately $4 billion a year.
Should this take effect, "small independent research institutions, like the NYGC, will be shuttered, stifling technological innovation, scientific progress, and collaboration," Maniatis wrote. "The long-term consequences will ripple well beyond academia, affecting industries that rely on NIH-supported discoveries, from biotechnology and pharmaceuticals to healthcare, public policy, and education."
"By unilaterally capping indirect costs, the NIH is not just limiting the reimbursements at individual institutions — it is jeopardizing the very ecosystem that has made American science a global leader," he wrote.
The NIH proposal is one of the more seismic shifts in federal funding of scientific research proposed by the Trump administration, amid a raft of cuts to the US government workforce and cancellations of grants and programs. On Wednesday, the White House issued an executive order directing the head of each federal agency to review funds disbursed under covered contracts and grants and "terminate or modify (including through renegotiation) such covered contracts and grants to reduce overall federal spending." The process "shall prioritize the review of funds disbursed … to educational institutions," according to the document.
Coalitions of state attorneys general and associations of universities and research centers have respectively sued to prevent the NIH cap from being put into place. On Feb. 11, a federal judge temporarily blocked the rate cap in the states represented in the attorneys general suit and extended the temporary restraining order on Feb. 21.
Maniatis wrote that indirect costs are "often misunderstood as administrative overhead" and said they help support labs by providing physical infrastructure and other services that allow labs to function. Moreover, the process for establishing indirect cost rates is "rigorous," he said, to make sure the funds are used properly.
"The scientific community must unite to advocate for the reversal of this policy," he wrote. He called on universities, independent research institutes, medical centers, and professional societies to collaborate with industry and private funders to "engage with policymakers" on the proposed shift.
At press time, the Change.org petition had received approximately 5,600 signatures.