The UCI Office of Research hosted an online town hall on Feb. 25 to discuss how the campus was impacted by National Institute of Health (NIH) cuts in federal research grants under President Donald Trump’s administration. UCI Vice Chancellor for Research Pramod Khargonekar facilitated the event and led a panel discussion with UCI officials from the UCI Graduate Division and UCI Health.
The NIH is a government agency that disburses approximately $48 billion in grants to various institutions across the country. The Trump administration began the blockage of NIH funding last month by preventing NIH officials from utilizing the Federal Register, a system required for the hosting of NIH grant issuance review meetings. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against the cuts on Feb. 21 until the court rules an injunction.
UCI has received the cancellation of four grants — two from the U.S. Agency for International Development, one from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and one from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. However, most of UCI’s research portfolio remains unaffected, according to Khargonekar.
Town hall attendees expressed concerns about institutional layoffs and graduate student admissions through questions via Zoom chat.
There is a moratorium on layoffs until Feb. 28, according to UCI Health Chief Human Resources Officer Ramona Agrela. The university will look at “internal redeployment” and will “offer alternatives” to the impacted personnel if layoffs are announced.
No Association of American Universities schools — which UCI is a member of — has terminated graduate admissions. Interim Vice Provost of Graduate Education Jaymi Smith discussed the importance of “prudence and careful planning” and “taking a conservative approach but not reducing numbers” when dealing with graduate admissions.
The NIH announced a controversial, new indirect costs policy on Feb. 7, issuing a standard 15% indirect cost rate — in place of the previous institution-specific negotiated rate for indirect costs in every grant — under recent pressure from the Department of Government Efficiency. NIH grants awarded to institutions include “indirect costs” that cover the maintenance of research infrastructure, accounting and personnel.
Khargonekar stated that UCI’s 57% negotiated indirect costs were a result of a “very rigorous negotiations process” involving large amounts of data and records. He described the cut as having generated “unprecedented levels of uncertainty,” but expressed hope of potential alleviation through “bipartisan support for research” and stated the importance of the research community to the nation.
UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman requested Khargonekar host the town hall in light of the University of California’s pushback against the funding cuts.
“We will continue to pay careful attention to that issue. However, broader proposed reductions in federal research funding pose serious risks — both for overall institutional funding and for researchers and students in certain fields of study that appear to be disfavored within this political environment,” Gillman said in a Feb. 20 statement. “Some NSF divisions, certain health-related disciplines, and research related to understanding historically disadvantaged communities seem to be especially vulnerable.”
UCI has maintained its stance opposing the loss of federal research funding.
“The changes announced by [NIH] will result in less funding for maintenance of laboratories, support for budget accountability, IT and the purchase of key rare supplies,” UCI Assistant Vice Chancellor for Communications and Media Relations Michael Uhlenkamp told New University. “Some specific examples of critical research at UC Irvine that is funded by NIH include key discoveries and understanding of how exercise and physical activity benefit health in children and adolescents.”
Uhlenkamp further commented on the change in NIH’s indirect costs policy.
“The loss of funding that covers indirect costs will cripple the university’s ability to advance innovative discoveries,” Uhlenkamp said.
In the past, NIH disbursed a $4 million grant to UCI Donald Bren Professor and Distinguished School of Medicine Professor Hoda Anton-Culver in 2024 with “renewal potential for four additional years” to fund a health database project. The database seeks to cover health data on over a million individuals across the country.
The UCI Institute for Clinical and Translational Science was also awarded $28 million across seven years — under NIH’s Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program — to aid translational research for medical treatments in 2024.
UCI’s continued response to federal updates can be found on their website.
Aarav Upadhyaya is a News Intern for the winter 2025 quarter. He can be reached at aaravu1@uci.edu.
Edited by Karen Wang and Logan Heine.
