WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Katie Britt, R-Ala., talked to Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Tuesday, expressing the importance of research done in Alabama in the wake of the now-paused NIH funding cuts.
A federal judge issued a temporary nationwide pause late Monday on the NIH funding cuts that would cap the indirect costs for institutions receiving grants at 15 percent. The pause originally impacted only the 22 states that sued over the cuts, which didn’t include Alabama. The indirect costs represent the overhead costs of facilities and administration that support research.
Britt said she told Kennedy that “sound research ultimately saves lives” and that she is proud of the work that happens in Alabama.
“He said he absolutely understood that we need to keep both research and innovation alive and well, and knows that you have to have the best technology and laboratory facilities to be able to do that,” Britt later told Alabama Daily News.
Britt said she wants to ensure that ground-breaking research is able to continue, but said the government needs to look at how the money is being spent.
“He’s committed to making sure that we’re judicious about how we do this, that we’re taking a look at how taxpayer dollars are spent, but that ultimately we have an opportunity, in many of these cases, to continue that research,” Britt said.
Britt said universities in Alabama want to be able to show the good work that they are doing and she said she feels confident that they will get to do that.
“I feel good about the ability to get this to a place where we continue the great research that we’re doing, and we also do it in a more judicious way,” Britt said.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham said Monday the NIH funding cuts would slow research and hurt Birmingham and Alabama’s economy. UAB ranks in the top 1 percent of NIH-funded organizations.
Britt said she doesn’t know what the exact solution will be, but emphasized that Kennedy is committed to continuing the conversation.