PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A federal judge on Monday temporarily halted a White House executive order for the nation’s largest funder of biomedical research to slash billions of dollars from institutions around the country that receive its grants, but the fight is likely far from over. Should the Trump administration prevail, funding cuts could have grave consequences for universities in Philadelphia.
The University of Pennsylvania stands to lose $240 million annually at its current rate, estimates Penn’s interim president, Larry Jameson, if the National Institutes of Health follows through on President Donald Trump’s plan. In a statement Tuesday, Jameson said the effect of the sudden and major change would severely harm the institution’s mission.
The plan targets indirect costs, like facilities, support staff, hazardous waste disposal and the electricity needed to operate sophisticated machinery. Institutions negotiate those rates with the government individually.
Elizabeth Duggins Peloso, the school’s senior associate vice president for research, said the school’s current rate for ancillary costs is 62.5% of the total research grant. The new plan caps ancillary costs at 15%.
Penn, with the most to lose, joined the Association of American Universities, education advocacy groups and 12 other universities to stop the NIH cut. Peloso provided a statement saying the cuts would cost Penn close to $171 million for this academic year and, echoing Jameson, they would have “deeply damaging effects,” disrupting numerous ongoing clinical trials for cancer treatment, immunotherapy and bone marrow therapy.
Jameson said in a statement to the Penn community that NIH research funding has in the past funded the school’s breakthrough research in CAR-T therapy for cancer treatment and mRNA technology used in vaccines like those developed to combat COVID-19.
Beyond the lawsuit, Jameson said the school is also exploring other ways to combat the cut or survive with its implementation.
In addition to the block in federal court, and the lawsuit Penn is involved with, nearly two dozen states sued Monday to stop the order to the NIH.
Apart from Penn, Philadelphia institutions including Temple University, Drexel University, Thomas Jefferson University and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia also stand to lose big.