There's a growing nationwide coalition to advocate for federal research funding, including to universities like Penn State. The Trump administration has canceled hundreds of already approved research grants and proposed cutting indirect costs for overhead.
The Chamber of Business & Industry of Centre County recently joined the Business for Federal Research Funding Coalition.
"This is a broad coalition of about 70 organizations led by the Boston Chamber," said Greg Scott, CBICC's executive director. "And we felt it was important to join this coalition because of our relationship with Penn State."
Scott said Penn State's research has a broad economic impact in Centre County and throughout Pennsylvania.
"When you provide high quality jobs to an area, then those employees have families to support and groceries to buy and goods and services," Scott said. "They support our restaurants and they get out in the community and spend dollars."
Penn State said around 50 federal research grants worth $10 million have been terminated. Plus, the university has said proposed limits to overhead on National Institutes of Health grants would have cost it $35 million on last year's grants.
New research out of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia maps out how research cuts specifically to National Institutes of Health grants are already impacting communities across the nation.
In Centre County, the map lists a current loss of $4.3 million and a future loss of $28 million to the local economy.
Scott hopes the advocacy coalition continues to grow. There are already more than 30 states represented.
"The message is to our lawmakers and policymakers in D.C., making sure they understand the impact, the positive impact that this research is having, not just on our economies, but also in driving job creation and innovation and being a country that leads the world in innovation, in research and driving that forward," Scott said.
The National Institutes of Health said it's prioritizing work that directly affects the health of all Americans. Many of the canceled research grants included topics of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Penn State has a website dedicated to providing updates on federal funding for research, although it hasn't been updated since July 18.
Read more from our partners at WPSU.