UAB’s Heersink School of Medicine received the 28th highest amount of National Institutes of Health funds in the U.S. in 2024, according to a recent ranking published by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research.

As the largest recipient of NIH funds in the state, representatives at UAB have expressed their worries over cuts to the NIH’s indirect cost rate announced recently by President Donald Trump’s administration.

In 2024, the school was awarded $270,810,216 by the NIH, according to the ranking.

Two other Alabama locations, The University of South Alabama’s Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine and the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, were much further down in the ranking, awarded $7,453,289 (112th place) and $1,257,081 (139th place) in funding respectively in 2024.

“Drastically lowering NIH indirect cost recovery jeopardizes life-saving research, and it would also result in job and economic loss in Birmingham and Alabama,” the university told AL.com in a previous statement following an announcement earlier this month that the Trump administration would cut the NIH’s indirect costs to 15%.

Indirect costs provide money beyond the grant amount for things like administration or equipment and can go well beyond 15%, according to NIH officials.

UAB officials previously estimated the cut could cost the institution about $70 million a year.

On Feb. 10, a federal judge blocked the cuts, granting a temporary restraining order to a coalition that includes the Association of American Medical Colleges that had challenged the Trump administration’s directive.

That same day 22 state attorneys general filed a federal lawsuit in Massachusetts against the Trump administration and NIH, seeking a court order to prevent implementation of the rate cut.

The attorneys general argued that the cut violates the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how federal agencies create and implement regulations.

U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley granted their request for a temporary restraining order.

In a statement, Massachusetts Attorney General Kim Campbell said: “We will not allow the Trump Administration to unlawfully undermine our economy, hamstring our competitiveness, or play politics with our public health.”

Alabama did not join the lawsuit.

U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., previously said she will work with Health Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “to not hinder life-saving, groundbreaking research at high-achieving institutions like those in Alabama.”

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said he supports the cuts.

“UAB will continue to closely monitor and assess rapidly evolving developments,” the university said.