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MINNEAPOLIS 鈥� Minnesota and 21 other states have sued the National Institutes of Health over the Trump administration鈥檚 steep cuts to grants that fund medical research in the United States.

If those cuts are implemented, 鈥渃utting edge work to cure and treat human disease will grind to a halt,鈥� the attorneys general wrote.

The cuts involve 鈥渋ndirect costs,鈥� which are the expenses of maintaining the laboratories, computer services, staffing and other administrative overhead of academic research. Institutions currently negotiate these costs individually with the federal government.

The NIH鈥檚 average indirect cost rate typically runs around 28%, meaning that every dollar of direct research funding is accompanied by 28 additional cents in indirect funding. The new order would cap that rate at 15%, effectively slashing NIH indirect payments in half.

In Minnesota, Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota are the chief recipients of NIH research grants. A preliminary estimate by education policy analyst James Murphy finds that the U stands to lose around $62 million annually under the new formula, while Mayo Clinic would lose about $54 million.

Other Minnesota institutions receiving NIH funding include hospitals, private companies doing medical research, and the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation, according to NIH reports. All told, Minnesota entities stand to lose around $117 million a year, according to Murphy鈥檚 estimates.

鈥淭he NIH funds critical research into fighting chronic and catastrophic disease in every corner of our country,鈥� Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement. 鈥淚ts work has an impact on countless families across America and helps keep us healthy and extend our lives.鈥�

Rebecca Cunninghan, president of the University of Minnesota, wrote in a letter to colleagues that the cuts are a 鈥渄irect attack鈥� on the university鈥檚 mission, and that they will 鈥渟low and limit medical breakthroughs that cure cancer and address chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.鈥�

The NIH website lists more than 659 University of Minnesota projects funded by the grants in fiscal year 2024. They include research into organ transplantation; elderly patients鈥� ability to fight off infections; the prevalence of blood cancers in Minnesota; Parkinson鈥檚 disease treatments; and immunotherapy treatments for certain types of cancer.

Kerem Y眉cel / MPR News

The grants also fund hundreds of studies at Mayo Clinic, which in recent years have included research into treatments for degenerative brain disease, breast cancer, osteoporosis, kidney disease and diabetes.

鈥淣IH is obligated to carefully steward grant awards to ensure taxpayer dollars are used in ways that benefit the American people and improve their quality of life,鈥� the agency said in the statement announcing the cuts.

Ellison has also joined lawsuits against the Trump administration鈥檚 executive orders on gender-affirming care, birthright citizenship, and overall federal funding.

This story was originally published on MinnesotaReformer.com