Recent federal announcements and executive orders have caused significant upheaval and uncertainty in the scientific community. An executive memo issued on January 27^th called for a funding freeze on thousands of federal grants and contracts. Following this, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently issued Supplemental Guidance that seeks to abruptly and severely reduce and cap reimbursement of indirect costs for grants to universities and research institutes to a maximum rate of 15%. Although federal judges have issued orders temporarily blocking implementation, these drastic reductions in federal support for scientific research threaten to undermine and do real harm to the United States’ world-class research enterprise.

Groundbreaking research studies and clinical trials require vital resources. “Direct” costs cover the expenses for a specific study, like the researchers’ salaries, payments to participants, and project-specific equipment and supplies. “Indirect” costs pay for the infrastructure support that is needed across many studies, providing the foundation for research success. Examples of indirect expenses include rent, utilities, and maintenance for the buildings where the research takes place; IT and technology support to ensure that sensitive research participants’ data remain secure; and compliance oversight to ensure the safety of human subjects and the efficient stewardship of resources. For independent institutes such as Oregon Research Institute (ORI), whose sole focus is to conduct scientific research, drastically reducing the indirect cost reimbursement rate or cancelling grants would have devastating consequences. ORI is a small nonprofit independent research institute with 90 employees, funded by research grants from NIH, the Department of Education (ED), and the National Science Foundation (NSF); ORI has no large endowment or other funding source that can make up the difference between what the federal government pays and the true costs of the research. Thus, all projects must provide sufficient funding to fully pay their way for both direct and indirect costs. Significant cuts to funding from NIH, ED, or NSF would mean shutting down important studies, damage to scientific progress, possible closure of whole labs, and resultant job losses. These job losses would result in a decline in broader economic activity, negatively impacting local businesses and limiting employment opportunities in communities.

Federal funding is critical to advancing ORI’s mission of improving health and education outcomes. For 65 years, Oregon Research Institute has partnered with federal grant agencies to conduct ethical and rigorous behavioral research across a wide range of research areas. ORI scientists are at the forefront of understanding human behavior and driving positive change in human health and wellbeing. ORI research studies focus on such important topics as developing and evaluating evidence-based interventions to improve children’s academic success, to support parents in fostering their child’s healthy development, to promote healthy aging, and to prevent and treat eating disorders, obesity, depression, and substance abuse. Funding cuts would impact the entire portfolio of ORI’s research programs, including the potential termination of long-running studies, the loss of invaluable longitudinal data, and the loss of ability to expand and scale-up effective programs that improve people’s health, and would jeopardize ORI’s long-term sustainability as an institution. This disruption would not only impede the progress of scientific discovery and of finding solutions for critical problems of human health and wellbeing, but also waste years of effort and resources dedicated to these important projects and increase long-term burdens on education and healthcare institutions.

Public support of science is an investment in our nation’s health, education, economy, technological progress, and ability to attract and retain top researchers. Each dollar invested in scientific research yields significant returns. In fiscal year 2023, every $1.00 of NIH funding generated approximately $2.46 of economic activity. Today’s discoveries lay the groundwork for tomorrow’s breakthroughs. Large cuts to research funding, such as cancelling or freezing grant programs or severely restricting indirect cost reimbursement, would jeopardize the resources that make these advancements possible, lead to setbacks in progress and innovation, increase the strain on healthcare and education systems, and ultimately, create lasting harm to the entire research enterprise and to human health and well-being.