Jonathan Lambert

So the NIH was one of the federal health agencies that was hit by this communications blackout. You know, queries from reporters were met with silence. All travel was suddenly canceled. So a general sense of fear, confusion, and anxiety settled over the labs and offices and clinics on the sprawling NIH campus just outside Washington. And, you know, that was just the beginning.

So the NIH was one of the federal health agencies that was hit by this communications blackout. You know, queries from reporters were met with silence. All travel was suddenly canceled. So a general sense of fear, confusion, and anxiety settled over the labs and offices and clinics on the sprawling NIH campus just outside Washington. And, you know, that was just the beginning.

Well, then a real shocker hit late on a Friday. It was February 7th. The NIH announced that the agency was capping what the NIH pays universities, medical schools, research hospitals, and other institutions for so-called indirect costs at 15%.

Well, then a real shocker hit late on a Friday. It was February 7th. The NIH announced that the agency was capping what the NIH pays universities, medical schools, research hospitals, and other institutions for so-called indirect costs at 15%.

Well, then a real shocker hit late on a Friday. It was February 7th. The NIH announced that the agency was capping what the NIH pays universities, medical schools, research hospitals, and other institutions for so-called indirect costs at 15%.

Yeah, these are essentially the overhead costs of conducting medical studies to search for new cures for everything from cancer and heart disease to addiction and Alzheimer's. You know, think about electricity to keep the lights on, janitors to clean buildings and take out the trash. Researchers said the cap would essentially cripple medical research.

Yeah, these are essentially the overhead costs of conducting medical studies to search for new cures for everything from cancer and heart disease to addiction and Alzheimer's. You know, think about electricity to keep the lights on, janitors to clean buildings and take out the trash. Researchers said the cap would essentially cripple medical research.

Yeah, these are essentially the overhead costs of conducting medical studies to search for new cures for everything from cancer and heart disease to addiction and Alzheimer's. You know, think about electricity to keep the lights on, janitors to clean buildings and take out the trash. Researchers said the cap would essentially cripple medical research.

Don't forget, with a budget of more than $48 billion, the NIH is the world's largest public funder of biomedical research. Yeah. So this was seen as an almost existential threat to the whole U.S. biomedical research enterprise.

Don't forget, with a budget of more than $48 billion, the NIH is the world's largest public funder of biomedical research. Yeah. So this was seen as an almost existential threat to the whole U.S. biomedical research enterprise.

Don't forget, with a budget of more than $48 billion, the NIH is the world's largest public funder of biomedical research. Yeah. So this was seen as an almost existential threat to the whole U.S. biomedical research enterprise.

They said the 15% was more in line with what other funders pay, like, you know, private foundations. and argued that institutions could cover more of these costs themselves by eliminating bloat in their budgets and by dipping into their endowments, especially big, wealthy schools like Harvard and Yale.

They said the 15% was more in line with what other funders pay, like, you know, private foundations. and argued that institutions could cover more of these costs themselves by eliminating bloat in their budgets and by dipping into their endowments, especially big, wealthy schools like Harvard and Yale.

They said the 15% was more in line with what other funders pay, like, you know, private foundations. and argued that institutions could cover more of these costs themselves by eliminating bloat in their budgets and by dipping into their endowments, especially big, wealthy schools like Harvard and Yale.

Though I should note, a federal judge in Boston has blocked the 15% cap on indirect costs from going into effect, so that came as a huge relief to researchers, as you might imagine.

Though I should note, a federal judge in Boston has blocked the 15% cap on indirect costs from going into effect, so that came as a huge relief to researchers, as you might imagine.

Though I should note, a federal judge in Boston has blocked the 15% cap on indirect costs from going into effect, so that came as a huge relief to researchers, as you might imagine.

Yeah, so we estimate that the NIH lost about 1,200 of the agency's 18,000 employees. And since the layoffs were aimed at probationary employees, they were pretty much random, hitting, you know, relatively junior scientists, but also senior investigators who had recently taken new jobs or been promoted. Plus, some top leaders started being forced out.

Yeah, so we estimate that the NIH lost about 1,200 of the agency's 18,000 employees. And since the layoffs were aimed at probationary employees, they were pretty much random, hitting, you know, relatively junior scientists, but also senior investigators who had recently taken new jobs or been promoted. Plus, some top leaders started being forced out.

Yeah, so we estimate that the NIH lost about 1,200 of the agency's 18,000 employees. And since the layoffs were aimed at probationary employees, they were pretty much random, hitting, you know, relatively junior scientists, but also senior investigators who had recently taken new jobs or been promoted. Plus, some top leaders started being forced out.