Karen Houseknecht, vice president for research and scholarship, and Scott Wood, director of the Portland Laboratory for Biotechnology and Health Sciences at University of New England. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

Inside a sprawling lab at the University of New England’s Portland campus, scientists conduct research that could eventually lead to improved treatments for conditions that affect millions, including diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis and chronic pain.

But researchers say that work is in peril because the Trump administration wants to slash billions of dollars in current and future funding through the National Institutes of Health, the federal agency that fuels much of the biological research industry in the United States.

In Maine, the move would mean millions in cutbacks for scientific research at places like UNE, Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor, the University of Maine System and the MaineHealth Institute for Research.

“It would be devastating,” said Karen Houseknecht, vice president for research and scholarship at UNE. “It could shut things down.”

Elisabeth Marnik, science outreach director at MDI Bio Lab, said the “detrimental impact this would have on the scientific process is large” and in Maine would harm an economy that is increasingly connected to the life sciences.

The NIH issued a policy directive earlier this month declaring that no more than 15% of each grant awarded for an individual research project can be spent on indirect costs, such as equipment, support staffing and facilities. Such indirect costs, Houseknecht said, are not unnecessary extras, but include expensive equipment needed to conduct experiments, as well as overhead costs at facilities, technicians to keep equipment operating, and cybersecurity.

In UNE’s case, indirect costs make up 42% — about $7 million — of the $17 million in annual NIH grant funding they receive, and are key to the research continuing at its current level, she said.

“Indirect costs are all part of the cost of doing business,” Houseknecht said. “If it’s cut, some very difficult decisions would have to be made.”

Houseknecht pointed to a liquid chromatography mass spectrometer at UNE’s Portland Laboratory for Biotechnology and Health Sciences that cost about $1 million — paid for with NIH grant funding — which is being used for pain research that could lead to alternatives to opioids for pain management.

Karen Houseknecht, vice president for research and scholarship, stands in front of a liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry device at the Portland Laboratory for Biotechnology and Health Sciences at the University of New England. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

The large white spectrometer looks a bit like a computer from a 1970s science fiction movie and measures tiny concentrations of drugs in bone marrow, blood and the brain. Those measurements in turn can be used to study effective ways to control pain.

But the mass spectrometer also has many different applications for other research areas, and student training, and is shared with scientists across the state. For instance, it can be used in forensics, such as drug testing or DNA testing.

“We are always asking, ‘What else can this be used for, and who else can use it?,'” she said. The mass spectrometer is one of several expensive NIH-funded pieces of scientific equipment at the Portland lab.

LAWSUIT FILED; FUNDING UNCERTAIN

The cutbacks — which would affect ongoing grants that the labs are operating under — are currently paused by a court order.

Twenty-two states, including Maine, sued the Trump administration last week over the NIH funding cuts, arguing that the funding formula was established by a federal law and cannot be dismantled by the executive branch without Congress passing a new law.

“The United States should have the best medical research in the world,” according to an unsigned NIH memo. “It is accordingly vital to ensure that as many funds as possible go towards direct scientific research costs rather than administrative overhead.”

But the Trump administration has not provided detailed reasoning to justify the cutbacks or addressed the impact on medical research.

Elon Musk, the billionaire leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, referred to the higher indirect costs as “corruption” in a post on X, his social media platform. He did not provide evidence or elaborate.

Criticism of NIH and its grants is laid out in Project 2025, a document that outlined potential reforms if Trump were to be reelected. Among other things, it says the NIH grants support the “woke” agenda and  liberal universities.

The cutbacks mirror similar fights over other funding cuts that were imposed by the Trump administration without going through Congress, which constitutionally holds power over federal appropriations.

While indirect costs can vary by year and by the specifics of each grant, the NIH funded $35 billion in research nationwide in 2023, with $9 billion, or 26%, paying for indirect costs at labs.

Tiyasha Banerjee, a graduate student working at the Portland Laboratory for Biotechnology and Health Sciences at University of New England, scans through data. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, recently said that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was confirmed Thursday by the Senate as health and human services secretary, promised to “reexamine” the NIH cutbacks. Collins is a staunch supporter of NIH funding.

“I oppose the poorly conceived directive imposing an arbitrary cap on the (NIH) indirect costs,” Collins said in a statement on Monday.

Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist who has recently attempted to distance himself from decades of falsely questioning the safety and efficacy of vaccines, was a controversial choice for HHS secretary. He was confirmed by the Senate on a largely party-line vote of 52-48.

Collins voted in favor of Kennedy’s nomination, while U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, voted “no” calling Kennedy a “danger” and “manifestly hostile” to the agency’s public health mission.

LIFE SCIENCES ECONOMY

Houseknecht said that the NIH grants have a “ripple effect” on the economy, as supplies and workers are needed to support the research, and it’s also used to train students across the state. The NIH estimates that every dollar invested in its research results in $2.46 in economic activity.

“We train students in these labs for all sorts of careers,” Houseknecht said. “It’s important for our community.”

Marnik, of MDI Bio Lab, said that “life sciences contribute more and more to Maine’s overall economy. We already are dealing with a worker shortage, in Maine and particularly in STEM fields,” and the cuts would make it harder to attract and retain workers.

MDI Bio Lab in 2024 landed a five-year, $19.4 million NIH training and workforce development grant. Called the Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE), the grant connects 17 educational and research institutions, with the goal of further boosting the life sciences industry in Maine.

According to the Bioscience Association of Maine, life science jobs jumped 31% in Maine during the past five years, and there’s now nearly 10,000 life science jobs in the state. The median income for a life sciences worker in Maine is $108,287.

“These investments in research are so important, and the economic impact is enormous,” Houseknecht said.

At MDI Bio Lab, the lost funding would be massive, as 69% of their NIH grants go for indirect costs, Marnik said. Of the total federal funds MDI receives per year — $7.1 million — the lab would lose $1.9 million from the NIH cuts, or about 25% of its total federal funding.

Marnik said the research they do focuses on regenerative science using animal models, such as zebrafish, which are often used for biomedical research because the fish share 70% of their genes with humans.

Scott Wood, director of the Portland Laboratory for Biotechnology and Health Sciences at University of New England. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

The zebrafish’s abilities to regenerate its organs — including eyes, muscles and kidneys — are being studied by MDI Bio Lab to develop drugs that might treat a variety of diseases in humans.

“We have staff working really hard studying ALS, Alzheimer’s, cancer,” Marnik said. “One of our labs is working at reversing macular degeneration.” Macular degeneration is a disease of the retina that causes vision loss.