David Moorman’s stress level went up a notch in early February. The neuroscientist, associate professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst did not receive the grant that supported his work on the brain’s functioning. He was given no explanation from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the United States’ federal medical research agency, which awarded him the five-year grant in 2022.
What would have been the point, when all federal grants have been frozen since Donald Trump returned to the White House on January 20? But without this money, it is impossible to pay the salaries of his collaborators, to buy the mice on which his laboratory works, the syringes, the gloves… His university took over the funding, but the researcher knows that it could not last very long. The money was eventually released on March 5. But cut by 10%, without justification. “I’ve heard of others who are having 20% cut from their grant awards,” he said. “Even if I’m very happy, I’m still concerned about the future.”
He is not alone. The entire scientific community is reeling from the brutality of the attacks carried out by the administration in Washington. Massive cuts in federal agency staff, funding suspended or cancelled, data made inaccessible, meetings postponed indefinitely: In his drive to axe federal operating costs, the 47th president of the US has plunged the world of science into chaos.
If the world of healthcare and medical research thought it was protected, it now finds itself on the front line. “We always assumed in the biomedical industry that we kind of had broad support across political lines. Health doesn’t have political affiliations, right?” asked Moorman.
Anti-vax health minister
You have 88.29% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
