AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD, and Chief Scientific Officer Elena Fuentes-Afflick, MD, MPH, issued the following statement regarding the administration’s announcement of severe cuts in facilities and administrative (also referred to as “indirect”) costs related to grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH):
“The administration’s announcement that it plans to cut federal support of biomedical research by drastically reducing reimbursement of research costs related to peer-reviewed grants from the NIH will diminish the nation’s research capacity, slowing scientific progress and depriving patients, families, and communities across the country of new treatments, diagnostics, and preventative interventions.
Every American has benefited from NIH-supported medical research conducted at medical schools, academic health systems, and teaching hospitals nationwide. Every American will be harmed by the undermining of this long-standing partnership between academic institutions and the federal government.
The government’s support of facilities and administrative costs allows medical research to happen. These real and documented research expenses include physical lab operations and maintenance, security, data processing and storage, and daily operations of critical research infrastructure. Make no mistake. This announcement will mean less research. Lights in labs nationwide will literally go out. Researchers and staff will lose their jobs.
As a result, Americans will have to wait longer for cures and our country will cede scientific breakthroughs to foreign competitors. These are real consequences – slower scientific progress, longer waits for cures, fewer jobs.
We strongly urge the administration to rescind this harmful and counterproductive decision and allow researchers across the country to continue their work toward improving the health of the American people.”
Related Resources:
About Facilities & Administrative Costs
Fact Sheet: Facilities & Costs of Research