The new National Institutes of Health policy would strip research groups of hundreds of millions of dollars to cover so-called indirect expenses of studying Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease and a host of other illnesses — anything from clinical trials of new treatments to basic lab research that is the foundation for discoveries.

Legal experts say the proposed cuts violate federal law and are unlikely to survive a legal challenge by states.

The Mass. judge temporarily blocked the cuts from taking effect earlier this month in response to separate lawsuits filed by 22 states.

Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee is supporting a lawsuit aimed at halting President Donald Trump's funding cuts to National Institutes of Health, which Menefee said could lead to job losses and "major setbacks" for researchers at Texas Medical Center.

Although currently blocked by a federal court, the policy would limit research funding from NIH for “indirect costs,” or overhead expenses, to 15%.

According to College officials, 1,300 College employees and 400 Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center employees’ positions are funded by federal grants and could be at risk.