A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Ongoing scientific research could be affected by the Trump administration's recent changes across the federal government. Last week, the National Institutes of Health abruptly changed its funding rules for scientific research, prompting chaos and uncertainty for scientific researchers everywhere, including in cancer research. Yesterday, a federal judge granted an injunction after 22 state attorneys general sued to stop the new rules. So that's a temporary pause on these cuts. NPR's Yuki Noguchi joins us now to discuss how these changes could affect patients. Yuki, so what's happened as a result of this move by NIH?
YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE: You know, it touched off a huge amount of concern among cancer researchers and institutions that rely on federal funds to run experiments or, you know, clinical trials. You know, this role wouldn't affect the research monies itself but a related thing called indirect costs - you know, overhead, basically - money for things like laboratories and equipment or software that researchers need to conduct their experiments. And many researchers, you know, universities and cancer centers relying on those funds say that within weeks or months, they would have to cut some programs. You know, they rely on that money to keep mice in labs alive and keep clinical trials with patients going. But Dr. Kimryn Rathmell, who directed the National Cancer Institute until last month under Biden, says there could be immediate impact.
KIMRYN RATHMELL: Some of those trials aren't going to open, and there are some patients out there who are going to get that news.
NOGUCHI: And, you know, clinical trials are often for the sickest patients for whom medicines are no longer working. So that's why it would be a very bad effect for them.
MARTÍNEZ: All right, so that's one immediate effect. But stretched out over time, what else might it affect?
NOGUCHI: Yeah, Rathmell says research creates people with depth of knowledge that benefit all patients. Like, for instance, you know, she's a kidney cancer expert and often shared her expertise.
RATHMELL: I would talk to community people all the time about how I was choosing between these different drugs and what I might do if I had a patient like theirs.
NOGUCHI: You know, and with less research, she argues you have fewer people in the country like her to turn to for advice like that.
MARTÍNEZ: What was the NIH leadership's goal in cutting this funding rate?
NOGUCHI: Yeah, I mean, they say the goal is not to create chaos in medical research but to force some overhead cost cutting because, you know, they say those rates are too high. These indirect costs universities collect can be as much as 60% on top of what the researcher gets as part of their grant.
Jay Greene, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, is a supporter of this change. And he argues those rules - those rates aren't justified, and he wants more private money to fund cancer research instead. And when I asked him whether he supports the abruptness of this change, you know, he said it was a way to force things.
JAY GREENE: Significant pressure helps them be more creative.
NOGUCHI: Greene also says he does not think it will affect patient care, either.
GREENE: Patients should be completely not alarmed. This is a dispute over the overhead costs between university bureaucrats and taxpayers.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. So a federal judge has paused these rules. So when were they supposed to take effect?
NOGUCHI: You know, immediately. But like many of the Trump administration's early moves, now we'll be watching a court case and whether the NIH complies with any ruling.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's NPR's Yuki Noguchi. Thanks a lot, Yuki.
NOGUCHI: Thank you.
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