Scientists Warn Trump's NIH Cuts Will Drop 'Atomic Bomb' On Health Research [View all]

Source: HuffPost

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s drastic cuts to National Institutes of Health funding will cripple biomedical research, stifle innovation and eliminate thousands of jobs, including in red states that voted for the president, scientists warned this week.

Over the weekend, the NIH announced it is sharply reducing federal funding for overhead costs at universities, hospitals and institutes required to conduct research. Known generally as “indirect costs,” they include things like rent for space, utilities, internet access, payroll, equipment and other intangible benefits, like free research assistants. This differs from “direct” costs of doing the research, such as salary and supplies.

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Scientists and researchers who spoke to HuffPost expressed deep alarm about the impact of the funding cuts on medical research, warning it would cripple efforts to cure cancer and other deadly and debilitating illnesses around the world. Most requested anonymity because of fear of intimidation or retribution by the Trump administration.

“This attack on the very structure of the academic research enterprise is threatening a system that every other country in the world has tried to reproduce, for no gain on any side that I can see,” a research professor at the University of Chicago told HuffPost. “It seems spiteful and targeted at those of us who just want to contribute to a better society.”

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-nih-cuts-science_n_67aa3b53e4b0ade4a9a36a1e