GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Over the last few weeks, Fox 17 has reported on the Trump Administration's attempts to cut federal funding. The president's team has repeatedly said it's part of an effort to better utilize taxpayer dollars and streamline government operations.
One of the agencies impacted is the National Institutes of Health— our country's health research agency.
In 2023, it distributed more than 35 billion dollars in research grants. Of this, 26 billion went to direct costs for research, while 9 billion went towards 'indirect costs'... things like equipment, operations, and personnel.
Earlier this month, a new policy was announced, limiting funding for 'indirect costs' to an across-the-board 15% rate. Now, that policy has been paused by a judge, after 22 states, including Michigan, sued.
I spoke with Dr. Jack Lipton, Associate Dean for Research Analytics at Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine, about the impact this rate change could have if it goes through.
Michigan State University's Grand Rapids-based research center houses 33 research teams. Areas of emphasis include Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and women's health.
Dr. Lipton tells me losing NIH funding would stop their work. "If we have this kind of cut to the work that we do, we're just not going to be able to do it anymore," Dr. Lipton said.
Dr. Aron Sousa, Dean of Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine, put out a statement last week, reading in part: "NIH funding has been so stable for so many years that the finances of the operations of the Grand Rapids Research Building are based on the federal reimbursement formula. Without this reimbursement, our building operations in Grand Rapids are not financially sustainable. The labs would literally go dark."
"These kinds of cuts will stop the research that gets done to help us to fund early detection and cures for Parkinson's disease or for Alzheimer's disease," Dr. Lipton said.
Dr. Lipton says Michigan State University would likely lose about 27 million dollars. "There's two pieces that fund research. There's the project based research that we do, which includes the funding for Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease, and then there's additional funds that we receive that are related to the cost of running the laboratories in which we work," Dr. Lipton said.
According to Dr. Lipton, this could impact the community. "For every dollar that is generated by NIH grants, an additional $6.00 gets infused into the community," Dr. Lipton said. "This affects people that work here in West Michigan. It affects their jobs. It affects their livelihood. It affects their family's livelihood."
For now, Dr. Lipton is hopeful that the funding will remain, and preserve what he calls the 'envy of the world' in health and human disease research.
Additionally, the Trump Administration is giving America's schools and universities two weeks to eliminate any DEI programs, or risk losing federal funding.
In a memo sent out Friday, the U.S. Education Department gave an ultimatum to stop using what it sees as "racial preferences" as a factor in admissions, financial aid, hiring or other areas. Schools now have less than 14 days to comply, or lose eligibility for federal money.
This guidance has not been met positively. Civil rights groups and universities are pushing back, saying its vague language is meant to have a chilling effect, pressuring schools to get rid of anything touching on the topic of race.
In a campus letter, University of Michigan President Santa Ono said leaders are working to understand the implications.
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