WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: United University Professions (UUP), the Nation’s largest Higher Education Union, held a news conference in Buffalo’s Medical Corridor this week as a means to further educate the general public to the Trump Administration’s decision to freeze Federal Research Grants, which several speakers said will have both a direct and detrimental impact on not only the University of Buffalo, but across the Western New York Community.  (WNYLaborToday.com Photos)

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – Many across Western New York are either unaware or just don’t know that the University at Buffalo (UB) receives $81 million - annually, to cover the costs of nearly 300 National Institute for Health (NIH)-funded research projects, some of which - for example, improve outcomes for chemotherapy patients, develop new multiple sclerosis treatments and determine new ways to detect possible brain aneurisms.  But these NIH grants, as well as a multitude of others from the U.S. Government - including from the National Science Foundation, the Department of State and the Education Department, are in limbo after being subjected to a funding freeze by the Trump Administration.

And with the daily chaos being created by the Administration - most notably its involvement in playing a role to end the Russian-Ukrainian War, firing hundreds of thousands of Federal Workers, a tariff war with several of the U.S.’s closest allies and a spiraling stock market, it is truly hard for anyone to keep up with what is going on a day-to-day basis.

That’s why United University Professions (UUP) - the Nation's largest Higher Education Union, with more than 42,000 Members, some who work at 29 New York State-operated campuses, including the State University of New York’s (SUNY) Public Teaching Hospitals and Health Science Centers in Brooklyn, Long Island and Syracuse, held a news conference in Buffalo this week with a number of UB Researchers, Labor Leaders and Elected Officials who sounded the alarm of the harsh economic and community realities of President Donald Trump’s actions.

Standing behind a podium inside the UB Hauptman-Woodward Research Institute Atrium in Buffalo’s Downtown Medical Corridor that featured a sign that read: Defending Higher Ed & Research Funding, UUP President Fred Kowal (pictured below) said: “That this is actually happening is incredible and unconscionable. This freeze has already reverberated across SUNY Campuses, impacting our Researchers who (perform) life-saving and life-changing work to address afflictions such as cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, among so many others. If not reversed immediately, these Federal grant freezes will have long-lasting and catastrophic consequences in the U.S. and worldwide.”

The speakers noted UB could lose $47 million or more in NIH grants over the next three to five years if a permanent 15% NIH cap on reimbursements for indirect costs to colleges and universities is instituted.

Research universities use those grants to cover costs for lab equipment, utilities, security, maintenance, Administrative Staff expenses and other expenses that are essential to maintaining specialized research facilities.

One speaker - UB Researcher and UUP Statewide Executive Board Members Tom Melendy, an Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences whose work is funded through NIH grants, said his project would be in jeopardy if the NIH funding freeze becomes permanent.

Melendy studies ways to suppress the growth of DNA tumor viruses, which account for 10% to 20% of all human cancers. He works with three others in his lab - a Senior Scientist and two students - on the HPV virus, which causes the vast majority of anogenital cancers and increasing instances of oropharyngeal cancers - one of the most rapidly increasing kinds of cancers.

“If funding is interrupted, people will have to be laid off and students will lose much of their ability to carry out the research required for their education,” Melendy said. “There has to be pay for the administrative support for grants, including purchasing of supplies, equipment and reagents, handling the paperwork and appointments for the students, trainees and Staff. Fifteen percent is far too low a percentage to cover all these necessary associated costs.”

Gabby Pascuzzi, who serves as Co-Vice President and Chief Steward for UB’s Graduate Student Employees Union, told those in attendance: “The uncertainty of funding freezes has made our already tenuous situation as Graduate Workers even more precarious. We already make below-poverty wages while trying to balance the many responsibilities of being students, Researchers, and Instructors. But we are here because we love the work and are pursuing active research agendas that we are passionate about. We would not be able to stay here if those research programs didn’t have funding. Years of investment - money, time and effort - would be wasted. Not only would research be impossible without Graduate Workers, but Undergraduates would be left high and dry without Teaching Assistants to do crucial instructional labor. The University would effectively be unable to run.”

Several Labor Leaders were also in attendance, including from the Building Trades (Painters District Council 4) and CSEA (Civil Service Employees Association), as well as representatives from WNYCOSH (Western New York Council on Occupational Safety and Health).

Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation Vice President Denise Szymura - who also serves as President of CSEA Local 815, said: “Cutting Federal funding for cancer research is wrong.  Cutting Federal funding for Parkinson’s disease treatments is wrong.  Cutting Federal funding for Researchers trying to save us from the next pandemic is not only wrong, it is dangerous and will hurt Working Families more than anything else.  If we cut off our pipelines for scientific talent and medical advancement, it won’t be the rich and powerful who suffer.  It will be the third-shift Factory Worker whose diabetic wife is forced to stretch does of her too-expensive insulin.  It will be the Civil Servant’s child whose chances against a rare cancer are too slim. It will be Working Families across the country looking for hope, but finding this administration would rather have an unelected billionaire (Elon Musk) take a chainsaw to public institutions instead of investing in the American People. We cannot afford to let politics stand in the way of progress. The assault on Workers of all kinds by this administration continues to be senseless, cruel and increasingly lethal. The Working People of Western New York deserve better and we stand with our UUP Brother and Sisters and will show our solidarity however we can to make those in office hear the power of our collective voice.”

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz also spoke at the event: “These devastating cuts to the National Institute of Health threaten the very foundation of life-saving research happening at the University of Buffalo and across the entire SUNY System. A permanent (15%) cap on NIH reimbursements could cost UB alone at least ($47 million) over the next few years - funds that support critical seeking bettering outcomes for cancer patients who receive chemotherapy, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and countless other afflictions. Defunding science doesn’t just hurt Researchers, it delays ground-breaking treatments, stifles medical advancements and ultimately costs lives. We cannot afford to turn our backs on the future of medicine and innovation.” 

But Poloncarz went a step further, making it chillingly clear that without Federal funding, the future of the Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) - which is located in a high-minority, low-income section of Buffalo, would be placed in jeopardy, which would be devastating for the region.

ECMC’s annual budget of $150 million is split between Erie County and the Federal Government, the County Executive said.  If the Trump Administration freezes or abolishes support for public hospitals such as ECMC, it would have to declare bankruptcy since the County in no way would be able to cover as much as another $75 million of its operating budget.

“It is incumbent on all of us to come together,” Poloncarz said, “and attack this with facts and continue the fight because it would have a huge impact on our lives.  The only reason for these cuts is to continue tax cuts for the wealthiest.”

WNYLaborToday.com asked UUP President Kowal what actions his Union, as well as other Labor Organizations and the public can pursue to stop the research grant freeze, he answered: “It is crucial for us to connect with the public, to make them aware of how this all will impact their lives, as well as the economic impact.  Our Members are energized and are out protesting, but it is my opinion that the pressure must be ratcheted up on our Republican Elected Representatives.  Maybe a million people marching in D.C. will get their attention.  But we must get the public to pay attention (to what is going on).  Republicans don’t have the guts to meet with their constituents, which they should show loyalty to.  We need to put pressure on Congressional Republicans so they get the message of the interests of Working People in New York State.”

WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: For More On This Labor News Story, Go To: Press Release | UB Researchers Discuss Impact of Federal Research Funding Freeze