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The Trump administration has reduced American public spending for health research to a 10 -year hollow, forcing universities to dive into their endowment funds and injure companies that sell laboratory supplies.
The data from the Treasury Department show the disbursed species of the National Health Institutes Lowered to $ 2.8 billion in May, down 28% from April and the lowest absolute spending since September 2014, according to Jefferies, an investment bank.
Already in June, funding for the pancreatic cancer grant for the University of Florida and species for a Coronavirus study at the Washington State University were eliminated, according to MonitoringA website set up by researchers to follow the financing cuts.
The interrupted research goes far beyond the projects of diversity, equity and inclusion that the Trump administration has criticized.
For decades, the United States has financed billions of dollars in universities, which had the scientific expertise that it lacked. NIH is the largest government supplier for medical research and health. Its budget totaled $ 47.7 billion in 2024 and the four -fifths of this money are disbursed to universities and hospitals as subsidies for specific projects, according to the Congressal Research Service.
But these subsidies are currently being attacked while US President Donald Trump retains federal funds for Harvard, Columbia and other universities for their alleged left -wing bias and their tolerance of anti -Semitism on campus.
Trump also launched a broader assault on federal government spending. Although it is not clear to what extent the “DOGE” program of the reduction in Elon Musk costs has been influential, the court documents dispute that the dismissals have uncovered the emails of DOGE officials.
The NIH frozen funds exploded a hole in university budgets across the country. For example, the Northwestern University spent around 40 million dollars a month to cover the missing funds of NIH, according to Carole Labonne, professor at the Chicago region school.
“Research laboratories are considering truly sudden choices regarding staff dismissal and not being able to take graduate students,” she said.
Northwestern has not been paid since the end of March, but has not received any official government notification about a freeze freezing, a university spokesman said. He confirmed that the university spent tens of millions of dollars a month to continue research.
Sixteen American states have continued the NIH, alleging illegal reservoirs or unreasonable funding delays. An audience is scheduled for Boston on Monday.
The funding gels have forced universities to cancel the existing order orders with companies, according to sources involved in these transactions. Already, the companies that sell to university laboratories have been hardly affected by the NIH cups.
During an audience in the Senate last week, Jay Bhattacharya, director of NIH, faced fires of democrats and republicans for layoffs. He said there is an appeal process for interrupted subsidies and that he hoped that universities “reconciles so that we can go ahead”.
At Thermo Fisher Scientific, which sells centrifuges, hydrochloric acid and other laboratory needs, CEO Marc Casper said in April that the demand for the academic world would be soft for the rest of this year. American university and government activities represent only 7% of thermo fisher income, said a company spokesperson, adding: “We have supposed slightly more silent sales for the rest of the year”.
According to Jefferies, Standard Biotools and Pacific Biosciences and Pacific Biosciences, as well as standard Genomics companies, a gene sequencing company, as well as laboratory companies.
“Yes, there are opposite winds at the moment,” said Jacob Thaysen, Director General of Illumina, a gene sequencing company in May, referring to American budget cuts. “I think it’s a short -term or temporary face wind and will come out on the other side.”
“We are working with political decision-makers to defend the preservation of critical research funding,” said an Illumina spokesperson.