If funding for National Institutes of Health is cut under a directive from President Donald Trump’s administration, the University of Pennsylvania could stand to lose $250 million, write Sarah Gantz, Aubrey Whelan, and Harold Brubaker for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The current administration recently unveiled plans to cap NIH spending on overhead costs associated with research at universities and medical institutions. These institutions rely on government funding for scientific studies that seek to advance care from a number of health concerns.
Penn receives hundreds of millions of dollars worth of NIH funding, the largest share among universities by a considerable margin. In fiscal 2025, the university received around $980 million in federal grants.
Since the plan was announced, a coalition of 22 states sued in federal court. This is in addition to Democratic attorneys and national research leaders who say this level of NIH funding cuts could bring years of research on critical medical developments to an abrupt end.
NIH funding has helped support Penn’s work on CAR-T therapy, the mRNA technology that led to the COVID-19 vaccines, and various other rare disease treatments and therapies.
“The reduction in funds announced by the federal government would blunt this critical, lifesaving work,” a Penn spokesperson said.
Read more about the negative impact decreased NIH funding will have in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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