Pediatric Oncology Branch researchers observe samples in a microscope in the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. (Photo credit: NIH)
NEW ORLEANS – Leaders from the city’s medical research community say life-saving advances in the treatment of cancer, diabetes and other chronic diseases could be threatened if the Trump administration follows through with deep cuts to federal grant dollars.
Beyond the immediate public health impacts, they also fear the far-reaching effects of losing current and future researchers if the White House makes the reductions it seeks in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding.
“You would lose a generation” of research, said Dr. Lee Hamm, dean of Tulane University’s School of Medicine.
Hamm was among a group of local bioscience research leaders and their community partners who met Thursday with Congressman Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, at the New Orleans BioInnovation Center. Carter said he called the meeting to receive input from experts on the near- and long-term impacts of the Trump team’s NIH policy.
The president cannot pull back research grants that have already been awarded, Carter said, but Trump has called for a major reduction in “indirect cost” allocations for grant recipients. Researchers said that money covers basic infrastructure needs, such as laboratory maintenance, utilities and compliance with safety regulations.
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The White House wants to cut what the NIH covers in indirect costs for its grants from 53% to 15%, a level researchers said would be devastating. Last week, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from making that cut. It challenged the ruling Monday, and the next hearing in the case is scheduled before the end of February.
Dr. Richard DiCarlo, dean of the LSU School of Medicine, said arguments in favor of a 15% indirect cost rate are based on “fallacies” and don’t take into account that NIH grant recipients have to spend more than they receive to put the federal money to work.
“If I get a dollar of NIH money, I’ve had to spend a dollar-50 and now it’s getting closer to $2,” DiCarlo said.
Research at risk
Researchers shared with Carter details on ongoing and potential projects that could stall or end if Trump’s NIH reductions become reality.
Dr. Lucio Miele, director of the LSU-LCMC Health Cancer Center, said research could be paused on new drugs that stimulate the immune system to fight off viruses. Another grant in the works would help LSU and the University of Alabama-Birmingham medical school study disparities in breast cancer.
“Without research, these advancements are not going to happen,” Miele said.
He also related the story of a junior faculty member at the cancer center who is married to a foreign national. Both have considered leaving the country because of the political climate, according to Miele.
Dr. Patrice Delafontaine, executive dean of Tulane’s medical school, said one of his colleagues, Dr. J. Quincy Brown, has developed technology that allows surgeons to determine the size of a tumor more accurately. The NIH project has improved patient outcomes, but its progress could stop if its funds are cut, he said.
The Trump administration should look at medical schools as a more effective and efficient public research investment than expanding existing government agencies, said Nicole Honoree, assistant vice chancellor at LSU Health Sciences Center. Beyond the National Institutes for Health, her institution’s work has reaped benefits for the military, she said. It has ranged from optimizing nutrition for food provided to the military and advancements in burn care at University Medical Center.
A 15% indirect cost rate would hurt even more at Tulane’s National Primate Research Center in Covington, where current grants are covered at 74%, Delafontaine said. The center is one of the few biocontainment facilities in the country, and it studies dangerous pathogens that could be weaponized such as anthrax and botulism. Its findings contribute directly to national security, the dean said.
Economic impact
According to figures Carter shared, the National Institutes of Health granted 373 grants to Louisiana research institutions last year valued at $211 million total.
Patrick Norton, chief operating officer for Tulane University, cited numbers from 2023 from United for Medical Research, a coalition of research institutes, patient and health advocates, and private industry. In Louisiana, it calculated that $226 million in NIH grants supported 3,426 jobs and $600 million in economic development activity.
Every $1 in NIH grant funding for Louisiana created a $2.46 economic impact, he said.
Carter said this return on investment could help sway members of Congress from both parties to ensure health research funding stays intact.
“Health is a nonpartisan issue,” the congressman said.
Andy Kopplin, CEO of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, chairs the New Orleans BioDistrict, an entity tasked with fostering growth in the medical sciences industry. He stressed to Carter the importance of the city and state keeping pace with competing bioscience hubs, likening the availability of research grant money to the lucrative name, image and likeness deals offered to college athletes.
“Research professors are going to follow the dollars,” Kopplin said.
Ellen Palmintier, Tulane’s director of state and federal relations, said her school cannot compete with the immense endowments at schools such as Harvard and Stanford. And if NIH money becomes harder to secure, Louisiana will be hard pressed to retain and attract experts, she said.
“Our institution can’t make up more of the indirect costs,” Palmintier said. “Our scientists will go to where they can do research.”
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