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V O L . X X X I N O. X I V J U N E 3 0 , 2 0 2 5 20 H I G H E R E D U C AT I O N / P RO F E S S I O N A L D E V E L O P M E N T T he whiplash effect from funding reversals is consistent with a lot of policy decisions coming out of Washington, but ever since Gov. Janet Mills' public dust-up with President Donald Trump in April, the University of Maine and other research institu- tions in the state have seen funding cuts affecting a wide swath of programs. By April, nearly $91 million had been frozen from six grant programs at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Office of Behavioral Health, according to Maine Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Sara Gagné-Holmes. Some cuts have since been paused by legal action. At the University of Maine System, spokeswoman Samantha Warren said earlier this month that 16 awards had been restored that the federal govern- ment had previously cut, mostly at UMaine. e balance remaining on those reversed awards is $3.5 million. Bigelow opens ocean education lab thanks in part to philanthropic support In some cases, state and philanthropic support has helped fund the gaps. At Bigelow Labs in East Boothbay, $5 million in National Science Foundation grants that had been recom- mended has been on hold. But an $8 million gift from the Harold Alfond Foundation helped fund the building of the $31 million Center for Ocean Education and Innovation, which is named for the Maine benefactor, and opened in June. Bigelow Labs is an independent, nonprofit research institute with a focus on global ocean health.e new 25,000-square-foot addition is expected to broaden the lab's business innovation, applied research and education pro- grams, and constitutes a 40% increase in the laboratory's footprint. In addition to the Alfond Foundation grant, the project benefitted from $13 million in other philanthropic gifts along with a $12 million grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. A $2 million maintenance endowment from an anonymous donor will support capital repairs and equip- ment replacement. MDI BioLab fears cuts to NIH funding Hermann Haller, president of Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, testified in May at a U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in Washington, about his concerns that a proposed cap in funding from the National Institutes of Health could drastically affect biomedical research. e hearing was led by U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Patty Murray, D-Washington, the committee's chair and vice chair. Haller explained that independent research institutions like Bar Harbor's MDI Bio Lab, don't have large endow- ments or tuition revenues, but depend on indirect cost reimbursements for part of their funding. e NIH was proposing to cap indirect costs, which include laboratory space, services and supplies, at 15%, which Haller told the committee endangers his lab's work to promote "life-saving research and biomedical breakthroughs." Haller said NIH's proposed cap would decrease a typical year's grant sup- port by 27% and would slow, and poten- tially end, some biomedical research projects and limit training opportunities for college students and early-career scientists. In Maine, NIH grants and contracts support 1,468 jobs and $286 million in economic activity. In 2024, MDI Biological Laboratory NIH grants included $19.4 million to renew and expand a network of research and higher education institutions called the Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence, and a $6 million funding renewal related to its light microscopy facility. R&D has been a high priority in Maine But funding cuts could have broad impact on research B y T i n a F i s c h e r Bigelow Laboratory named its 25,000-square-foot expansion in honor of Harold Alfond. F O C U S P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y B I G E L OW L A BO R AT O R Y F O R O C E A N S C I E N C E S S C R E E N S H O T / U. S. S E N AT E A P P RO P R I AT I O N S C O M M I T T E E "Federal funding for biomedical research is not just a cost. It's a national investment," Hermann Haller, president of MDI Bio Lab, told a U.S. Senate committee.

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