KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The Trump Administration is working to make federal cuts that would directly impact medical research funding.
Friday, a federal judge blocked these efforts, which many scientists believe would have delayed lifesaving studies.
The Trump Administration’s efforts were then paused after 22 states, including Michigan, sued.
Before the pause, the Trump Administration stopped the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) grant application review process.
The pause delayed decisions about how to spend millions of dollars on research, ranging from cancer to Alzheimer’s.
Eric Larson, a professor of biomedical sciences at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed), is studying polycystic kidney disease with his team.
Larson’s team recently made a discovery that opened the door to finding new treatments to prevent what is currently considered an incurable ailment.
“If the funding, went away it would greatly slow down what we can do in the laboratory,” Larson said.
WMed heavily relies on grants from the NIH to conduct their research, according to WMed Dean Robert Sawyer.
Each year, WMed receives between $7 and $8 million from NIH for their research projects.
“As you can imagine, extraordinarily important, partner with us and funder of our research,” Sawyer said. “We use the funds for Laboratory supplies, even things like test tubes and or animals for research purposes and so forth.”
The Trump Administration has repeatedly stated the cuts are a part of an effort to better utilize taxpayer dollars and streamline government operations.
The recently paused policy, however, would have limited funding for ‘indirect research costs’ to an across-the-board 15% rate, down from 50%, according to Sawyer.
If the federal cuts do go into effect, it could have detrimental impacts on the community, Sawyer added.
“By cutting research today, It will impact future generations of our patients very, very significantly,” Sawyer said.
More information about the National Institute’s of Health can be found online.