Feb. 9, 2025

 

 

Dear School of Medicine faculty and staff:

 

I know you are aware of the quickly changing landscape for medical schools and academic health systems. I hope you have found the recent messages and guidance from our university leaders helpful (including the Feb. 8 message below from Ravi Thadhani and Lanny Liebeskind); the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research (SVPR) website remains a source of up-to-date information.

 

We understand this is a challenging and anxious time given the uncertainty of how recent Executive Orders and federal directives impact what we do every day, including our pursuit of inclusive excellence. Please take care of yourselves and support one other. If you need additional help, I encourage you to access the comprehensive support resources at Emory.

 

Please know that since the most recent notice about caps on Facilities and Administration (F&A) costs for all new and existing NIH grants at 15% beginning on Monday, February 10, 2025, I have been working closely with School of Medicine and Emory University leaders to understand the impact on the SOM, knowing there will be immediate and long-term implications for our biomedical research enterprise and beyond. Research is absolutely fundamental to our mission—shaping the future of medicine, advancing human health and supporting the communities we serve.

 

Some investigators have received direct communications from the Office of the SVPR about current and pending awards. If you have questions or receive notifications from federal funding agencies, contact Lisa Carlson in the SOM dean's office (lisa.carlson@emory.edu) and/or Holly Sommers in the Office of Sponsored Programs (osp@emory.edu). For those of you in the midst of submitting proposals in February, please proceed as planned.

 

Our commitment to our faculty, staff and learners is unwavering. Your work is important and improves the lives of people around the world. We will provide updates about actions we need to take as a community as we continue learn more. I am grateful for all you do.

 

My best,

Sandra

 

Sandra L. Wong, MD, MS
Dean, Emory School of Medicine
Chief Academic Officer, Emory Healthcare

Feb. 8 message below from Ravi Thadhani, Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, and Lanny Liebeskind, Interim Provost & Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs 

Faculty and Staff,

Over the past several weeks, teams from across the Emory enterprise have been working to monitor and respond to new federal directives and policy changes that affect some areas of our work. We have communicated with our research community about these impacts amid the uncertainty of a continually shifting landscape.

Today we are sharing an update that has serious implications for Emory. Yesterday evening the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released new policy guidance capping Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs for all new and existing grants at 15% beginning on Monday, February 10th. For Emory, this cap represents a roughly $140 million decrease in NIH F&A funding annually. F&A funding is essential to our research enterprise. Every life-changing breakthrough we pursue – from cures for diseases to the discovery of new medicines – is made possible by the laboratory infrastructure, research security, information technology, and state-of-the-art equipment this F&A funding provides.

To put it simply, this development could affect nearly every academic unit at Emory, with both immediate and long-term consequences for our scientific research, clinical trials, patient care, and other academic pursuits. When combined with other recent guidance, and other potential federal policy changes that may be focused on higher education, the risks to Emory – and indeed to all leading research universities – are compounded.

Emory moved swiftly last night to respond to this emerging guidance, including convening conversations with our peer institutions and national university associations. This work will continue throughout the weekend and into the coming days as we learn more. While we intend to advocate strongly for this essential funding, we want to underline that these impacts are serious and may result in changes to many facets of work across Emory. We anticipate having additional guidance to share next week.

We will continue to provide updates to you as they emerge. In the meantime, please take care of yourselves, and know that we are firm in our belief that the work you do changes lives for the better.

Best,

Ravi Thadhani
Executive Vice President for Health Affairs

Lanny Liebeskind
Interim Provost & Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs