Scientists and institution leaders say proposed 15% indirect‑cost cap would cripple small labs and slow clinical trials

At a Senate Appropriations hearing on biomedical research, institutional leaders and committee members warned that a proposed across‑the‑board 15% cap on indirect costs would threaten the ability of many research institutions to host grants and run clinical trials.

Dr. Herman Haller, president of the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, described indirect costs — often called facilities and administrative costs — as the funds that pay for lab space, compliance staff, microscopes, security and shared services that make grant-funded experiments and trials possible. “Independent research institutions like mine, without a large endowment and without revenues from tuition, we are dependent on the present system of indirect cost reimbursement,” Haller said. He added that a 15% cap “endangers our work and the work of all the other independent…