Notably, the Trump administration froze $108 million to the school in late July. Administrators did not comment on the status of the $108 million, which represents nearly 19% of the school’s total NIH funding, in the Friday webinar.
Swamy said that nationally, higher education institutions have been experiencing the same decreases in funding as Duke. She said the NIH issued slightly over $1 billion less in funding to colleges and universities this year than at the same time last year.
“It is good to know that we’re trending in the same way as the national picture, but obviously we’re going to keep a very close eye on what all of that is looking like,” Swamy said.
Despite the overall reduction, Swamy said she expects the flow of federal funding to pick up soon. She noted that after the government shutdown last fall, NIH funds were frozen “for a few months,” but that since January, the school has experienced an uptick in funds.