This is a disastrous, shortsighted move that will severely undermine U.S. medical research. Decades of leadership in innovation, discovery, and life-saving breakthroughs are being sacrificed for what? Bureaucratic penny-pinching? The consequences will be profound, and it’s indefensible.
Hmm, I wonder if they'll deem flying to Mars more important than PEPFAR. And I *support* space exploration because it inspires science. But SpaceX gets a lot of our tax dollars!
Exactly. Space exploration is valuable, but priorities matter. Gutting life-saving programs like PEPFAR while funneling tax dollars into Musk’s ventures raises serious questions about where our values lie. Public funding should serve the greater good, not just the ambitions of billionaires.
This is more “Republic of Gilead” than even Project 2025 could have imagined.
The nation will lose so much more than being world leader in research. We stand to lose a portion of our population over a short time. Mainly those who work to make us healthier.
You really hit the nail on the head - every point you made is critically important. I worked on NIH funded grants for almost 40 years, and they are typically somewhat or substantially underfunded for the amount of work required. There are no fat cats, luxury trips, expensive lunches or unnecessary staff charged to the government. Lawmakers need to get out of Washington and visit the universities and hospitals where most of the research is conducted and see what it's like in the trenches. There are no more dedicated people in the USA than those I met in medical research. On top of that, our research experience has always drawn the best and brightest physicians, nurses, statisticians, epidemiologists, public health professionals, and others from all over the world. These cuts are an outrage. I am thankful I am retired, but it is very painful to see the disruption and uncertainty this is causing colleagues and the institutions I served. And that sentiment doesn't even take into account the damage the inevitable reductions in research will cause American citizens, future researchers, and humanity.
Thank you for this expertise. Please keep sharing insights like this. I really appreciate this space having the opportunity to amplify informed opinions like yours!
Site visits are critical. Research moves slowly and lawmakers have no clue what you do, why it is expensive and why it takes so long. Invite them to see and then explain it in clear English in terms that mean something to them. In other words make it personal. This needs a PR blitz peppered with personal, gut wrenching stories about why it is so important. Surely each one of these Republican senators knows someone who is suffering from one of these diseases you are trying to cure.
I’m not a health professional. I’m a retired librarian, but I have worked in medical libraries and I have my eyesight(Eyelea) and my life (Covid mRNA vaccines) thanks to medical research. I’m a UCLA alum and a donor. What part or parts of the institution do I lobby to fight this?
I think the lawyers and the advocacy groups are our best hope to save the country right now. That and hammering Congress. I don't usually call Senate and House offices. But I have lately.
My senators and representative are all Democrats, so I have up to now not contacted them, but I am now, every day because I think it is important to register sheer volume of constituent blowback on the entire Congress. If your reps are Republican, it’s even more critical. Politicians pay attention to constituents, especially large waves of them.
1. What is the basis for the claim that "many foundations" allow less than 15% now? Or are they just making that up?
2. Seems clear where the coalition of interests lies here. This is part ignoramuses with a mandate to find "waste, fraud, and abuse" and partly anti-intellectual fanatics who will take any excuse to defund universities because they regard higher education as the enemy.
Good question. The answer to #1 is that it's true. What they don't say is that many places (like where I work) can't accept much funding from those foundations because the researchers have to figure out other revenue streams to cover the indirects. So, these foundations need to increase their indirect rates. Now, you can argue that some universities need to lower theirs. I have no idea what the right number is and it's possible that the current rates are either totally reasonable or, in some instances, higher than strictly necessary. (Although it's not fraud, it bears noting). So, if the USG wants to renegotiate and come up with some lower figure for each place, they could do that. I'm making up #s but maybe HMS really "could" make it work for 50-65% (or not; Dunno!). But to just say "15% starting on Feb 10, for EXISTING" contracts? That's just insane.
Thank you for giving us concise definitions and quotes in addition to raising the alarm so promptly. Quoted your article (including a link) in emails sent to my congressman and senators.
If we were to create a new research system from scratch today would it be the one we have before us today that grew organically? It appears that colleges and universities have made themselves so toxic in the mind of the GOP that any activities affiliated with them will have their financial support removed.
Certainly I think experts would say that if you started from scratch there would be ways to improve things. But again, these folks are lighting the car on fire, rather than taking it to the shop. And our system is not a junker.
These institutions caved to illegal (1st amendment) and immoral demands from government (then Biden, now Trump) and Congressional members to stop any speech or actions related to Palestine. The Crimson reported, just two weeks ago, that Harvard shut down an Optional Class on Wartime Healthcare because Palestinians (arguably well versed to speak on the matter) were featured.
But as these institutions are finding out, complying does not get you immunity. Now they are the target. They are very lucky many on the left are well aware that injustice to any of us is injustice to all of us and will likely step back up to try and defend them.
These three men are not wise ( E, T and V ) and the other Vought too etc ~ Unfit to serve and should be removed, fired or impeached and get psychological or neuropsych assessments because their actions are wide reaching and very detrimental to hundreds of millions of hardworking citizens, families, kids, young adults and people abroad also will suffer their irresponsible cruel short sighted actions in the name of pseudo ‘penny pinching efficiency’ while they line their own pockets and starve or disease up and impoverish the population …and restrict economic opportunities and the American and International dream of independence, safety and thriving life. I know this is a run on sentence but this doesn’t even matter when FUNDAMENTAL basic rights are at stake !
And also they can horribly find 8 billion or many more billions for war funding easily ( not going through Congress bypassing, skipping it ) and plentiful weapons ….while totally cutting environmental protections for our babies and children ~reducing safe food supply, safe land, safe air, safe water, safe schools ~ reducing ~gun free neighborhoods etc /parks / open space … as they roll back newly agreed upon gun safety measures for our society ….they don’t care if it’s mayhem on the street corner or that there’s no new vaccine development or new antibiotics or enough ( sufficient ) medicine supply for the world for chronic conditions or emergencies …like IV fluids in Hurricane ravaged factories ~ they don’t care if research 🔬 stalls or stops … so this lack of caring means that they are not authentic kind leaders and people who aren’t putting their citizens first and are actually harming their people with bad, inept decision making …need to be fired or removed, told ‘hey you don’t care about weather impacting buildings and life sustaining iv fluid supply ‘ then leave your post now etc .
Yes, the lawyers of the institutions that provide scientific breakthroughs for our health will step up. But why do they alone have to do the heavy lifting?
Where are the Democrats? Negligence, limpness and cowardice has been the response of most Democrats at the federal level. Voting for any of the grotesquely unfit Trump nominees was a devastating dereliction of duty.
Now, neglecting a truth campaign about the consequences of the Musk/Trump destruction is the captain sleeping at the bridge while the ship hits the iceberg. Newsmedia, social media, ads on all platforms, is what is needed to inform Americans.
Dictatorship by the most sociopathic among the billionaires is what we are looking at. Some billionaires understand that taxpayer-funded research has made them rich, but Musk denies that fact.
This is a disastrous, shortsighted move that will severely undermine U.S. medical research. Decades of leadership in innovation, discovery, and life-saving breakthroughs are being sacrificed for what? Bureaucratic penny-pinching? The consequences will be profound, and it’s indefensible.
Hmm, I wonder if they'll deem flying to Mars more important than PEPFAR. And I *support* space exploration because it inspires science. But SpaceX gets a lot of our tax dollars!
Exactly. Space exploration is valuable, but priorities matter. Gutting life-saving programs like PEPFAR while funneling tax dollars into Musk’s ventures raises serious questions about where our values lie. Public funding should serve the greater good, not just the ambitions of billionaires.
Space x also has a lot of disasters environmentally ( nature impacted and climate ) and debris falling, also trash in space ~
This is more “Republic of Gilead” than even Project 2025 could have imagined.
The nation will lose so much more than being world leader in research. We stand to lose a portion of our population over a short time. Mainly those who work to make us healthier.
Yeah the death count on PEPFAR alone is just heartbreaking.
You really hit the nail on the head - every point you made is critically important. I worked on NIH funded grants for almost 40 years, and they are typically somewhat or substantially underfunded for the amount of work required. There are no fat cats, luxury trips, expensive lunches or unnecessary staff charged to the government. Lawmakers need to get out of Washington and visit the universities and hospitals where most of the research is conducted and see what it's like in the trenches. There are no more dedicated people in the USA than those I met in medical research. On top of that, our research experience has always drawn the best and brightest physicians, nurses, statisticians, epidemiologists, public health professionals, and others from all over the world. These cuts are an outrage. I am thankful I am retired, but it is very painful to see the disruption and uncertainty this is causing colleagues and the institutions I served. And that sentiment doesn't even take into account the damage the inevitable reductions in research will cause American citizens, future researchers, and humanity.
Thank you for this expertise. Please keep sharing insights like this. I really appreciate this space having the opportunity to amplify informed opinions like yours!
Bravo! Thank you!🙌🙌🙌
Site visits are critical. Research moves slowly and lawmakers have no clue what you do, why it is expensive and why it takes so long. Invite them to see and then explain it in clear English in terms that mean something to them. In other words make it personal. This needs a PR blitz peppered with personal, gut wrenching stories about why it is so important. Surely each one of these Republican senators knows someone who is suffering from one of these diseases you are trying to cure.
Absolutely right.
I’m not a health professional. I’m a retired librarian, but I have worked in medical libraries and I have my eyesight(Eyelea) and my life (Covid mRNA vaccines) thanks to medical research. I’m a UCLA alum and a donor. What part or parts of the institution do I lobby to fight this?
I think the lawyers and the advocacy groups are our best hope to save the country right now. That and hammering Congress. I don't usually call Senate and House offices. But I have lately.
My senators and representative are all Democrats, so I have up to now not contacted them, but I am now, every day because I think it is important to register sheer volume of constituent blowback on the entire Congress. If your reps are Republican, it’s even more critical. Politicians pay attention to constituents, especially large waves of them.
I don’t care who or what they are. I’ve been calling them all! Democrats and Republicans!
Me too
Two things:
1. What is the basis for the claim that "many foundations" allow less than 15% now? Or are they just making that up?
2. Seems clear where the coalition of interests lies here. This is part ignoramuses with a mandate to find "waste, fraud, and abuse" and partly anti-intellectual fanatics who will take any excuse to defund universities because they regard higher education as the enemy.
Good question. The answer to #1 is that it's true. What they don't say is that many places (like where I work) can't accept much funding from those foundations because the researchers have to figure out other revenue streams to cover the indirects. So, these foundations need to increase their indirect rates. Now, you can argue that some universities need to lower theirs. I have no idea what the right number is and it's possible that the current rates are either totally reasonable or, in some instances, higher than strictly necessary. (Although it's not fraud, it bears noting). So, if the USG wants to renegotiate and come up with some lower figure for each place, they could do that. I'm making up #s but maybe HMS really "could" make it work for 50-65% (or not; Dunno!). But to just say "15% starting on Feb 10, for EXISTING" contracts? That's just insane.
2. Yes.
Thank you for giving us concise definitions and quotes in addition to raising the alarm so promptly. Quoted your article (including a link) in emails sent to my congressman and senators.
Glad it worked. Often, I'm writing this as a way to work through and better understand these issues myself.
If we were to create a new research system from scratch today would it be the one we have before us today that grew organically? It appears that colleges and universities have made themselves so toxic in the mind of the GOP that any activities affiliated with them will have their financial support removed.
Certainly I think experts would say that if you started from scratch there would be ways to improve things. But again, these folks are lighting the car on fire, rather than taking it to the shop. And our system is not a junker.
The old "first they came for the ..." scenario.
These institutions caved to illegal (1st amendment) and immoral demands from government (then Biden, now Trump) and Congressional members to stop any speech or actions related to Palestine. The Crimson reported, just two weeks ago, that Harvard shut down an Optional Class on Wartime Healthcare because Palestinians (arguably well versed to speak on the matter) were featured.
But as these institutions are finding out, complying does not get you immunity. Now they are the target. They are very lucky many on the left are well aware that injustice to any of us is injustice to all of us and will likely step back up to try and defend them.
These three men are not wise ( E, T and V ) and the other Vought too etc ~ Unfit to serve and should be removed, fired or impeached and get psychological or neuropsych assessments because their actions are wide reaching and very detrimental to hundreds of millions of hardworking citizens, families, kids, young adults and people abroad also will suffer their irresponsible cruel short sighted actions in the name of pseudo ‘penny pinching efficiency’ while they line their own pockets and starve or disease up and impoverish the population …and restrict economic opportunities and the American and International dream of independence, safety and thriving life. I know this is a run on sentence but this doesn’t even matter when FUNDAMENTAL basic rights are at stake !
And also they can horribly find 8 billion or many more billions for war funding easily ( not going through Congress bypassing, skipping it ) and plentiful weapons ….while totally cutting environmental protections for our babies and children ~reducing safe food supply, safe land, safe air, safe water, safe schools ~ reducing ~gun free neighborhoods etc /parks / open space … as they roll back newly agreed upon gun safety measures for our society ….they don’t care if it’s mayhem on the street corner or that there’s no new vaccine development or new antibiotics or enough ( sufficient ) medicine supply for the world for chronic conditions or emergencies …like IV fluids in Hurricane ravaged factories ~ they don’t care if research 🔬 stalls or stops … so this lack of caring means that they are not authentic kind leaders and people who aren’t putting their citizens first and are actually harming their people with bad, inept decision making …need to be fired or removed, told ‘hey you don’t care about weather impacting buildings and life sustaining iv fluid supply ‘ then leave your post now etc .
This is also impacting university students who are job searching ~ this is a mess on so many levels…
Yes, the lawyers of the institutions that provide scientific breakthroughs for our health will step up. But why do they alone have to do the heavy lifting?
Where are the Democrats? Negligence, limpness and cowardice has been the response of most Democrats at the federal level. Voting for any of the grotesquely unfit Trump nominees was a devastating dereliction of duty.
Now, neglecting a truth campaign about the consequences of the Musk/Trump destruction is the captain sleeping at the bridge while the ship hits the iceberg. Newsmedia, social media, ads on all platforms, is what is needed to inform Americans.
Dictatorship by the most sociopathic among the billionaires is what we are looking at. Some billionaires understand that taxpayer-funded research has made them rich, but Musk denies that fact.