Response to proposed cuts by the NIH

Dear members of the MIT community,

I write to describe the potential impact of a recent announcement by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and to share the actions we’re taking in response.

As you’ve likely heard, Friday evening, the NIH announced drastic across-the-board cuts to the research funding it supplies to universities, hospitals, medical schools and research centers in every US state.

To outsiders, capping the reimbursement rate for indirect costs at 15% might seem like a technicality. But “indirect costs” are actually foundational to a thriving, world-class research enterprise and cover things like data storage; hazardous materials management; radiation safety; the costs of maintaining and renewing research facilities and equipment; research administrative systems; and compliance with federal regulations.

In other words, the 15% cap – amounting to cuts of $30–$35 million a year at MIT – would undercut our ability to run a top-tier scientific enterprise. If these proposed cuts are allowed to proceed, they will do immediate harm to work that saves American lives. In the longer term, they would severely degrade the research capabilities that drive American innovation and leadership in advancing scientific and technological progress for human health.

Filing suit to stop the cuts

This afternoon, MIT joined the American Council on Education, the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities, the Association of American Universities (AAU), and a number of AAU member institutions in filing suit in federal court seeking to block these indiscriminate cuts from taking effect. The filing included “declarations of harm” from many institutions, including one from MIT that offers a vivid picture of the kind of breakthrough health research underway at the Institute that this arbitrary action would harm.

At MIT alone, NIH funding supports world-leading research and innovation focused on treatments and cures for diseases that cause immense human suffering: cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Lyme disease, autism and many more. This vital work requires staffing, equipping and maintaining some of the most sophisticated scientific facilities in the world. NIH-supported research also supports training of the next generation of life science researchers who make life-saving discoveries possible.

We believe these proposed cuts are unlawful and pose a direct threat to MIT’s mission – and they fracture the compact between the US government and its research institutions that, since the end of World War II, has fueled America’s innovation economy and ensured the nation’s security, prosperity and quality of life.

We oppose these cuts because they will erode America’s global scientific leadership and deprive the American people of the fruits of research with untold potential benefits for their health and well-being.

Sincerely,

Sally Kornbluth
President