NIH funding cuts threaten LI research institutions

On Wednesday, Long Island got the news that Stony Brook University, one of its premier research and academic institutions, will welcome as its next president Princeton University's Andrea Goldsmith, a premier neuroscience and engineering scholar. 

But Goldsmith's ascension comes at a tenuous moment. Premier research institutions including Stony Brook face numerous threats, including the National Institutes of Health's proposed severe funding and reimbursement rate cuts.

The change would cap the "indirect cost" reimbursement rates for any grant at 15%. In contrast, Cold Spring Harbor Lab's reimbursement rate previously was 48%. The difference could result in a loss for the lab of $16 million annually. For Stony Brook, it's a $17 million cut.

And those indirect funds are critical for our research institutions to function. They keep the lights on and the air conditioning pumping in a lab environment where temperature control is critical. They pay for microscopes and other equipment that fall under the "indirect" category. They go toward the disposal of chemical and medical waste and the powering of an extensive computer network that's vital to the scientists' work. 

On the surface, "indirect" cuts sound sensible especially with the promise that "direct" scientific research funds would remain unaffected.   

But the reality is very different. Scientists can't do the experiments, testing and other direct research without other pieces of a sophisticated equation. Such indirect cuts —  temporarily blocked by a federal judge — would particularly harm our region which has spent decades building a research corridor critical to local employment and economic success. 

From Stony Brook University to Brookhaven National Laboratory, from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to the Feinstein Institutes and Adelphi and Hofstra universities, scientists depend on federal funding to do the work they do in cancer, Alzheimer's disease and the illnesses that afflict 9/11 first responders. Losing "indirect" funds will damage those efforts.

On top of that, the federal layoffs nationwide backed by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have involved thousands of scientists, including those at NIH who previously led the way in areas like Alzheimer's research. The shocking loss to science, to health care, and especially to patients now and in the future, could have repercussions for generations.

That's true closer to home, too, where even the threat of funding cuts could roil the region's entire health care landscape, from physicians' offices to hospitals, which promote clinical trials and work with research institutions. It could affect future disease diagnosis, management and treatment. And it could trickle down into the rest of the Island's economy and job market.

Long Island's congressional representatives know this. The two local Republicans in the House majority, Nick LaLota and Andrew Garbarino, must act quickly to avert this threat before it undermines the decadeslong effort to connect all of Long Island's premier institutions into the research corridor we deserve.