Broad Institute leadership foresees reductions in non-personnel costs, facilities expenses, and salary in response to funding cuts and federal changes
The 15% indirect cost cap could lead to $50 million funding cuts for the Broad Institute
Vivian Hir–The Tech
On March 25, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard held a community update meeting regarding the potential impact of federal funding cuts on the Institute’s budget, as well as the ramifications of recent executive orders on the Broad community. The meeting was held in person at Merkin Auditorium and on Zoom.
Broad Institute Director Todd Golub stated that while the Broad Institute plans to implement some changes, he emphasized that the executive leadership team does not have “all the answers to those questions yet, because too much is in flux.”
Despite the uncertainty, Golub expressed optimism. “I can’t think of another place to be doing science with the greatest potential for every patient,” he said.
Golub shared that, as of March 25, only one out of the 500 to 600 grants in the Broad Institute was reported to be terminated. The executive leadership team did not provide an exact value for the total number of grants in the meeting, nor did it disclose details regarding the terminated research grant. The Broad Institute is currently challenging the termination and is issuing an appeal. Golub cautioned that there may be more in the future, given recent events in which NIH grants for research areas such as COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS have been terminated.
According to Golub, the NIH indirect cost cap of 15% would result in a funding cut of $50 million for the Broad Institute. Currently, the Broad Institute’s indirect cost rate is 75%, according to an internal document provided by the Office of Sponsored Research.
Given these circumstances, Golub said that the Broad Institute will have to reduce spending in non-personnel costs, facilities expenses, and adjustments in salary.
Non-personnel costs are operating costs unrelated to salary expenses or benefits. Golub suggested reducing costs in areas that are “really nice to have” for the Broad community, but are not necessarily “critical to the work that we do,” such as the Broad’s food budget, summer barbecue, and annual scientific retreat. “They’re really expensive events,” he said.
To reduce facilities expenses, the Broad Institute is turning to subleasing lab space. Earlier this year, the Broad Institute opened a six-story, 225,000-square-foot research building on 300 Binney Street in Kendall Square. Although the Broad Institute planned to sublease some sections of the building for the first few years, Director of External Communications David Cameron wrote in an email to The Tech stating, “Given the ongoing soft market for lab space in general, we are looking at subleasing more space in these buildings than originally envisioned.”
Golub acknowledged that subleasing would be challenging, as there has been a surplus of available lab space on the market due to research funding cuts in the life sciences sector. “That direction probably isn’t going to get better as everyone’s feeling that pressure,” Golub said.
Increases in Boston lab space vacancies have been an issue since last year. In Collier’s 24Q4 Greater Boston Life Sciences Report, Research Director Jeffrey Myers reported that the total availability rate in the greater Boston area is 26.9%, which is 10% higher than the availability rate in 2023. (Vacancy increases had already occurred in 2024 before funding cuts, primarily due to new construction.) Currently, more than 15 million square feet of space for Boston’s life sciences research is available for use.
Besides lowering facilities costs, the executive leadership team plans to revisit adjustments in salary, specifically merit increases. The historical average annual raise percentage has been around 3% across all employee levels, which amounts to about $10 million a year, according to Golub. Although an exact plan has yet to be determined, Golub stated that the executive leadership team is considering a tier-based approach that accounts for salaries when determining salary adjustments. Golub later announced that the executive leadership team, including himself, decided to not take a salary increase for the upcoming fiscal year.
Subsequently, Golub stated that the Broad Institute likely has plans to lay off employees, although the exact number of job cuts is unknown. “I think it would not be truthful to say that there will be no action,” he said. Job cuts are estimated to happen in late spring to early summer.
Golub said that the Broad Institute is a soft-funded organization, meaning that aspects such as staffing, including research and administration, may fluctuate depending on funding levels. “When our funding goes up, we can hire people,” he said. “When our funding goes down, we have to have a smaller staff.”
While the Broad Institute has an endowment of about $1.2 billion, Golub said the terms and laws of the endowment require that it “remain in perpetuity.” In other words, endowment spending is restricted to the annual interest it earns, which is a little under 5%. According to the 2024 financial report, the established spending rate was 4.7% of the endowment value.
After Golub delivered his speech, Yvonne Hao, the Massachusetts Secretary of Economic Development, gave a brief talk online about the importance of the Broad Institute’s work. Hao began her speech by expressing gratitude for the Broad Institute’s contribution to scientific research. “The fact that you are all doing this work and staying the course of focusing on the mission and what matters is hugely important,” she said.
Hao acknowledged that Massachusetts’s government does not have as many resources as the federal government. However, she noted that Governor Maura Healey signed the Mass Leads Act in November 2024, an economic development bill that would provide $4 billion to support science and technology research — $1 billion of which was allocated for the life sciences industry. “Our goal as a state is to make sure that we have the right resources and the right tools here to continue to support all of you and the work that you’re doing,” Hao said.
After Hao delivered her remarks, six members of the Broad Institute executive leadership team, including Golub, held a Q&A panel for the in-person and online audience.
In response to a question regarding the Broad Institute’s budget plans for the 2026 fiscal year, Chief Operating Officer Dan Shore said that the executive leadership team is currently reviewing non-personnel expenditures, though specific plans have not been fully developed yet.
Following the discussion of the 2026 fiscal year budget was a question about whether job cuts would directly impact people on a fully-funded grant. Golub clarified that scientists who are funded on a grant will not be affected as long as the project still receives funding. However, Golub emphasized that given the current situation, lab groups should “raise the bar” and ensure that “there’s sufficient funding for a reasonable period of time” before hiring a new scientist or staff for a project.
Executive Vice President Stacey Gabriel added that grants not only support personnel costs, but also platform costs. Platforms are defined as technology areas where a team of staff scientists work on building and delivering technologies for various research projects in the Broad Institute. Currently, the Institute has nine platforms, which range from data science to proteomics to genetic perturbation. Gabriel cited the downsizing of the genomics platform as an example, stating that decreased funds in the NIH All of Us Research Program has significantly affected the genomics platform’s staffing and capabilities. Funding for All of Us decreased prior to the start of the Trump administration, as the research program has experienced a 71% decrease in budget over the past two fiscal years from 2023 to 2025.
Another community member asked about the possibility of industry partnerships between the Broad Institute and companies in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. Gabriel said that the Broad Institute will explore these opportunities, which include the recently announced collaboration between Illumina and Broad Clinical Labs on single-cell research.
Chief Communication Officer Lee McGuire said that the Broad Institute plans to work with a lobbying firm in Washington D.C. that focuses on science advocacy. The main goals of lobbying are to stop the proposed indirect cost rate of 15% and to inform people in the federal government the importance of science research on medical advances.
“We need to demystify all the great things that come out of not just the Broad Institute, but the research community in general,” Golub said. “These are serious things, like cures for real diseases that really benefit patients.”
Besides the impact of funding cuts on the Institute’s finances, the Q&A session also discussed how the Broad Institute plans to support the Broad community — specifically those in the transgender community and international community — in light of recent executive orders. Chief Community Officer Kedrick Perry reaffirmed that “trans Broadies deserve every single right that any other Broadie does,” and urged the audience to show support and compassion for the trans and nonbinary community.
In regard to guidance for the international community, McGuire warned that the Broad Institute may not be able to provide helpful assistance if a member is detained. McGuire admitted that the current situation is “very uncertain” and that detainments could occur regardless of the travel’s purpose. According to the International Support Services team statement sent via email on March 25, they strongly encouraged international members to avoid personal and business related international travel until further federal guidance is available.