On February 7, 2025, the U.S. National Institutes of Health announced a decision to cap indirect cost reimbursement-which supports the critical infrastructure and staff that make biomedical research possible-at 15%. In a commentary published February 28 in the Cell Press journal Cell, molecular biologist Tom Maniatis of the New York Genome Center (NYGC) and Columbia University’s Zuckerman Institute reflects on the impact NIH funding has had on his own career and science, explores the value indirect investment has brought to U.S. science over the last five decades, and calls for urgent, unified action from the scientific community to prevent the cap from taking effect.
The U.S. scientific ecosystem has long been an engine of innovation, fueled by strategic investment and collaborative effort. We must act swiftly and decisively to safeguard the future of science in the United States and ensure that research institutions have the resources they need to continue their essential work.”
Tom Maniatis, molecular biologistÂ
Although the NIH decision has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge, it continues to raise significant concern in the scientific community because the proposed cap is significantly lower than the rate currently negotiated between the agency and many of the research institutions it funds. Maniatis was invited by Cell to share his perspective on this issue after the launch of a petition he created with his team at the NYGC; the petition has already garnered its targeted 5,000 signatures.
Maniatis believes that small, independent institutions will be harmed the