University of Nebraska Medical Center researcher Rebekah Gundry worries she’ll have to scale back her lab where she develops technology to better treat heart disease, the leading killer of Nebraskans. “I don’t even think that I can verbalize in a coherent manner how devastating these cuts will be,” she said.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) unveiled a plan Friday to cap the amount it pays to research institutions for “indirect costs,” which include building upkeep, utilities, administrative staff and other routine expenses. The lion’s share of these federal funding cuts would come at the Med Center, but they would also impact research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Although the cuts have been temporarily blocked by a federal judge, NU administrators say the university’s cash reserves are low, noting that reductions in key federal grants could result in painful layoffs and hamper research.

Read why the proposed federal funding cuts left NU leaders and researchers reeling in the story on SPN.