The University of Kentucky’s research to fight cancer and other diseases would lose tens of millions of dollars in federal funding annually under a new policy of President Donald Trump’s administration, according to a statement released Monday by the university’s president.
UK President Eli Capilouto said the administration’s move to cut the National Institutes of Health’s indirect cost rate to 15% would lead to the university losing at least $40 million of its health research funding over the next year.
If enacted, Capilouto said it “will cost UK tens of millions of dollars annually and will hit our local and state economies. More important than any numbers, though, it will impact the work we do to advance the health of Kentucky in those areas most critical to our future — including cancer, heart disease, children’s health, Alzheimer’s and opioid use disorder.”
For the time being, these cuts appear to be on hold. A federal judge in Massachusetts issued a nationwide temporary restraining order to block the NIH and Department of Health and Human Services from implementing the cuts, in response to a lawsuit from numerous universities. The same judge issued another restraining order earlier in the day that had only applied to the 22 states who sued to stop the cuts, Kentucky not being one of them.
The NIH is the largest funder of health research in the United States. The grants that it awards fully fund the direct costs of such research, but also a portion of the indirect costs related to the facilities and staff needed to conduct the research.
Capilouto indicated it usually receives an indirect cost rate of anywhere from 20% to 54% depending on the grant, but the new NIH policy would cut this rate to 15%. Such a rate “would cut tens of millions of dollars in essential support services to scientists and clinicians who are asking the most important questions about the biggest health challenges Kentucky faces.”
Over the past five years, UK says it has received an average of $159 million in NIH awards.
The Trump administration announced the NIH indirect cost rate change late Friday, with the agency saying the cut to overhead costs would save more than $4 billion a year. A White House spokesman said “redirecting billions of allocated NIH spending away from administrative bloat means there will be more money and resources available for legitimate scientific research, not less.”
The lawsuits seeking to block the cuts argue the NIH move is illegal and unconstitutional, in addition to having a devastating effect on vital health research. They say it is a violation of federal law governing how agencies implement new regulations and also usurps congressional power by altering the indirect cost rate of already signed contracts.
Trump’s first administration attempted to cut this indirect rate to 10% in 2017, only to be blocked by Congress, which passed legislation prohibiting the NIH from changing the rate without proper authorization.
The University of Louisville recently received a $11.7 million grant from the NIH to launch the Louisville Clinical and Translational Research Center, which was announced last month. The center is described as “a statewide effort that will transform the university’s clinical research infrastructure and find meaningful solutions to combat chronic conditions like cardiac disease, stroke and cancer that disproportionately affect Kentuckians in urban and rural areas alike.”
Asked for the university’s reaction to the NIH cuts, UofL spokesperson Amanda Carroll said in an email that they are “continuing to review and evaluate the policy to determine its potential impact. We will provide more information and guidance to the university community when we know more.”
Aaron Thompson, the president of the Kentucky Council for Postsecondary Education, said in a statement that “NIH funding is essential to university research that leads to medical breakthroughs and improved health outcomes for Kentuckians. Indirect funds support facilities and infrastructure needed to advance this work. CPE is monitoring the situation as it develops.”
According to an NIH grant database, UK was awarded $152.8 million of grants in the 2024 fiscal year through last September, with $42 million of that covering indirect costs. The largest grant amount covering indirect costs was funding to research Alzheimer's disease and related dementias — with $2.7 million covering direct costs and $1.4 million covering indirect costs.
The same database shows UK receiving $14.6 million in NIH grants in the first four months of the 2025 fiscal year, with $4.4 million covering indirect costs.
The University of Louisville was awarded $65.5 million of NIH grant funding in the 2024 fiscal year, with $20.7 million of that going to indirect costs.
The NIH database also shows the University of Pikeville, Western Kentucky University and Northern Kentucky University receiving grants of less than $1 million over the past two fiscal years.
A spokesperson for Gov. Andy Beshear did not respond to a request for comment on the NIH cuts.
State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
