Bill Goldman

Here Is All the Science at Risk in Trump’s Clash With Harvard (Gift Article) More than 900 research grants worth $2.6 billion are in jeopardy. So is the 80-year-old model of American science.

It's not just about Harvard. "This is the science model the U.S. has developed over 80 years: The government sets the agenda and funds the work; university scientists design the studies and find the answers. The president’s willingness to upend that model has revealed its fragility."

NSF, NASA and NIH budgets per year, inflation adjusted from 2000-2025 along with the proposed cuts. NSF includes research component only. Massive cuts across all sectors, well below support spanning 25 years.

How bad will it be? Catastrophic.

Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come.

But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget.

Speak up now before it is too late.

(inflation adjusted $-s below)

On Capitol Hill with Mike Imperiale & @ssclabquips.bsky.social to help @asm.org educate members of Congress and their staff about biosafety, biosecurity, and sustained federal science funding. #ASMAdvocacy

The Presidential Budget Request has been released, and it details some serious cuts to scientific funding and research. Please use the link below to automatically send a letter to your Representative and Senators -- you can customize the pre-written message with your personal story.

“Not Just Measles”: Whooping Cough Cases Are Soaring as Vaccine Rates Decline While much of the country is focused on the spiraling measles outbreak, experts warn that whooping cough and other preventable diseases could get much worse with falling vaccination rates and Trump’s ...

There have been over 7000 cases of whooping cough in the U.S. this year, more than double this time last year. And last year, the number of cases was nearly 17X higher than in 2021.

Massive layoffs, purge of leadership underway at U.S. health agencies The move comes after Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s announcement of a sweeping reduction of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Late Monday emails to NIAID Director Jeanne Mazzaro and other NIH leaders "offer reassignment to a number of locations, including Alaska; Billings, Montana; the Navajo Nation; and Oklahoma, and ask leaders to respond with a preference by Wednesday at 5 p.m. Eastern."

Saying ‘pandemic is over,’ NIH starts cutting COVID-19 research Grant terminations halt research on improving vaccinations and preventing future pandemics

The chainsaw approach to virology funding: Rescinding COVID-19-related NIH grants also terminates drug discovery research targeting many other viral diseases including Ebola, Marburg, yellow fever, dengue, Zika, measles, chikungunya, and Rift Valley fever.

Doonesbury, March 16 2025

NIH reels with fear, uncertainty about future of scientific research The Trump administration’s orders have created more turmoil and damage at the National Institutes of Health than was previously known.

wapo.st/4h8aiZx

The NIH Memo That Undercut Universities Came Directly From Trump Officials NIH officials said they were given no advance warning and less than an hour to post the memo publicly.

The Feb. 7 announcement of major restrictions on grant funding appeared to come from the NIH Office of the Director (grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...) -- but the document did not originate at the NIH and had not been vetted by NIH officials. Read how the NIH was suddenly forced to post this notice:

‘Wrecking ball’: RFK Jr. moves to fire thousands of health agency employees Supervisors deliver bad news across NIH, CDC

Make America Healthy Again? Yet another assault on science and public health — thoughtless, cruel, and completely predictable

Federal judge blocks Trump from slashing NIH funding in 22 states that sued Universities filed an additional lawsuit Monday that seeks to halt the cuts nationally.

Fortunately, a just-in-time temporary restraining order:

Please take a minute to send this letter (which you can personalize) about the new NIH directive to immediately cap indirect costs at 15% . . . the letter will be auto-addressed and sent to your members of Congress.

1. Today the NIH director issued a new directive slashing overhead rates to 15%.

I want to provide some context on what that means and why it matters.

grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

If you're a microbiologist, please use the link below to contact your Congressional delegation. You'll be able to modify a draft letter that is auto-addressed to your elected legislators, informing them how Executive Orders can adversely impact your work, public health, and scientific research.