After years of conversations surrounding indirect research costs, academic groups are now under the gun to quickly come up with an alternative to the NIH’s proposed 15% across-the-board cap on indirect costs and the decades-old university-by-university negotiated rate that can exceed a 50% add-on to a grant.

A publication based on longitudinal and cross sectional data and led by researchers at the U.S. NIH’s National Institute on Aging published on June 5, 2025, in Science has stated that the impact of taurine supplementation at delaying aging or treating aging-related conditions is context-dependent, and that the circulating levels of taurine are impacted by factors unique to each individual rather than declining with age. To qualify taurine as a true marker of aging, it should change with age across diverse populations over time and ideally supported by longitudinal data.

A publication based on longitudinal and cross sectional data and led by researchers at the U.S. NIH’s National Institute on Aging published on June 5, 2025 in Science has stated that the impact of taurine supplementation at delaying aging or treating aging-related conditions is context-dependent, and that the circulating levels of taurine are impacted by factors unique to each individual rather than declining with age. To qualify taurine as a true marker of aging, it should change with age across diverse populations over time and ideally supported by longitudinal data.

The Trump administration released its budget proposal for fiscal year 2026, which would chop roughly 40% from the NIH budget over the current fiscal year — a proposal that might not find much support on Capitol Hill.

In a throwback to the Obama administration, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order pausing federally funded research using infectious pathogens and toxins that may pose a danger until a safer, more enforceable and transparent policy governing such research can be developed and implemented.

The Trump administration’s broad slash to university research budgets raises pertinent questions over impacts to the biopharma ecosystem, specifically how a changed trajectory of early research programs will affect tomorrow’s treatments and cures. Who is going to bridge research from idea to company if grants from the U.S. NIH are no longer an option?

If the April 30 hearing on biomedical research before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee is any indication, the Trump administration could face a big challenge if it tries to cut more than 40% of the NIH’s budget in fiscal 2026 as proposed and slap a 15% cap on indirect costs.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is adopting a new initiative to expand innovative, human-based science while reducing animal use in research. Developing and using alternative nonanimal research models aligns with the FDA’s recent initiative to reduce testing in animals.