
Trump's NIH Cuts Send Shockwaves Through the Science World
Listen to Odd Lots on Apple Podcasts
Listen to Odd Lots on Spotify
Subscribe to the newsletter
One of the first moves made by the Trump administration was to change the nature of grants made by the National Institutes of Health. Under the new policy, there's a 15% cap on "indirect costs" associated with a given grant. This is money that essentially pays for institutional overhead, not directly related to the new costs of the specific project itself. So how do NIH grants actually work? What are the direct and indirect costs? What is the effect that's already playing out? On this episode, we speak to Carole LaBonne, a biologist and researcher at Northwestern University, on what she's already seeing from the changes.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Axios
41 minutes ago
- Axios
Vaccine board purge stokes talk of CDC alternatives
By gutting the expert panel that's advised the government on vaccine policy for more than 60 years, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earned the condemnation of virtually every medical society, as well as former public health officials and local practitioners. What became immediately clear is that no outside group can immediately step in and fill the vacuum if the public won't trust the reconstituted Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The big picture: The distress and lack of organization apparent in health circles on Tuesday was a sign that a new independent body that could act as a "shadow CDC" to truth-squad the Trump administration isn't close to materializing. "We are clearly working on it and we think it's very important, but I don't think anyone has an answer yet," said Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, who's behind one ad hoc effort. "Right now, we're in such uncharted territory." The medical establishment has floated ideas such as state-appointed boards or medical specialty associations serving as clearinghouses for information on vaccine safety and efficacy for clinicians. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) during the pandemic created a state entity to review the safety of federally approved COVID-19 vaccines before distributing them to the public. But it would be difficult to replicate the professional clout of ACIP, whose recommendations can influence whether insurers cover vaccines. That would leave Kennedy's handpicked successors controlling the narrative — a prospect many researchers and physicians think will bring a radical departure from ACIP's evidence-based deliberations on safety and efficacy. Friction point: Kennedy and other Trump health officials' assertions that ACIP has been a rubber stamp for vaccines have infuriated public health officials, who say the physicians, infectious disease experts and researchers constituted a vital body of nongovernmental health leaders who took their jobs seriously. Panel members were carefully vetted for conflicts and had their professional credentials scrutinized. Discussions took place in a high-profile public forum that would be difficult, if not impossible, to replicate. "Many of us can provide a read of the science, and we can convene formally or informally to create consensus around vaccine recommendations," said Megan Ranney, dean of the Yale School of Public Health. "But I suspect that it won't be sufficient for insurers, for Medicaid, for the Vaccines for Children program, and it's unclear how pediatricians and primary care physicians and pharmacies across the country are going to be able to respond," she said. The other side: Kennedy wrote on X Tuesday night that he would announce new ACIP members in the coming days. "None of these individuals will be ideological anti-vaxxers. They will be highly credentialed physicians and scientists," Kennedy wrote. He added he would detail instances of "historical corruption at ACIP to help the public understand why this clean sweep was necessary. "Kennedy cited the panel's "stubborn unwillingness to demand adequate safety trials before recommending new vaccines for our children" as the most "outrageous example." What to watch: All eyes are on the new appointees for the board, including their scientific backgrounds, track records when it comes to defending vaccines and any potential conflicts of interest. HHS has indicated it has every intention of moving forward with ACIP's next meeting, scheduled for June 25-27. The agenda includes recommendation votes for COVID–19, HPV, influenza, meningococcal and RSV vaccines. "If nothing else, I think [the committee] may have trouble functioning because you've just lost a whole lot of institutional memory," said Adam Ratner, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Infectious Diseases. "That agenda has the committee voting on real things that matter to real people, and I don't know how they're possibly going to do that in any kind of way that is based on science or evidence," he said.


New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
5 Keys to a Healthy Diet
Ask any reputable dietitian or nutrition scientist about how to eat healthfully, and they will probably tell you to avoid dieting. Many diets emphasize restriction, whether it's of calories, carbohydrates, fats or something else. And that's not a healthy strategy, said Alison Brown, a nutrition researcher at the National Institutes of Health. Diets like these can cause you to miss out on the range of nutrients your body requires, she said. A much better way to maintain healthy eating habits, she added, is to focus on foods that are not only nourishing, but also bring you joy. That can be challenging when nutrition fads are coming and going with seemingly increasing speed, and often conflicting advice. Is saturated fat the enemy or not? Are we all deficient in protein? Turns out, the best ways to foster healthy eating are also the simplest. Here's how. 1. Prioritize whole foods. Not all processed foods are unhealthy, but they're often stripped of beneficial nutrients like fiber and certain vitamins and minerals, Dr. Brown said. And they may contain high levels of ingredients that can be harmful to health, like added sugars and sodium. Because of this, it's best to consume foods 'as close as possible to how they exist in nature,' Dr. Brown said. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump Celebrates Pride by Defunding LGBTQ+ Support at Suicide Hotline
President Donald Trump is marking Pride Month by slashing specialized counseling services for young LGBTQ+ people who call the National Suicide Hotline. The Department of Health and Human Services' proposed 2026 budget cuts LGBTQ+ youth resources provided by the hotline, also known as 988. Although $520 million is still set aside to fund the organization, government support for LGBTQ-specific counseling will be eliminated. When Trump signed the suicide prevention line into law in 2020, the legislation put in place special counseling for high-risk populations like LGBTQ+ people under the age of 25. The hotline service was required to employ 'specially trained staff and partner organizations' because—the legislation states—queer and trans youth 'are more than 4 times more likely to contemplate suicide than their peers, with 1 in 5 LGBTQ youth and more than 1 in 3 transgender youth reporting attempting suicide.' Less than five years later, a senior administration official told NBC that the money has been reallocated so that it doesn't go to 'radical grooming contractors,' perpetuating a discriminatory stereotype that equates LGBTQ+ individuals or allies with sexual abusers. Rachel Cauley, a spokesperson for the White House's Office of Management and Budget, said that the proposed budget funds 988 but not 'radical gender ideology.' 'It does not... grant taxpayer money to a chat service where children are encouraged to embrace radical gender ideology by 'counselors' without consent or knowledge of their parents,' Cauley said. The contractors that partner with 988 are mental health organizations that typically provide care to the general population and LGBTQ+ people. This includes The Trevor Project, which has long advocated for LGBTQ+ youth. Jaymes Black, The Trevor Project's CEO, said in a statement to NBC: 'Attempts to discredit these life-saving services will not change the reality of what this administration is proposing: the elimination of a national suicide prevention program, run by seven leading crisis contact centers, that has supported over 1.3 million LGBTQ+ youth across the U.S. with best-practice crisis care.' Black, who urged Congress to rethink the proposal, said that 'every young life is worth saving.' The Trump administration chose to announce the move during Pride Month, a season meant to honor queer representation and commemorate the pioneers who paved the way toward equality. The first Pride marches were held in 1970 to honor the one-year anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, a pivotal event in the LGBTQ+ rights movement. It took nearly 30 years for the U.S. government to officially recognize the significance of the month; in 1999 former president Bill Clinton issued a proclamation recognizing June as 'Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.' Its name was subsequently updated to include other identities, like bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals, by former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. It formally became LGBTQ+ Pride Month in 2021. Trump had already signalled that he would officially spite Pride Month last week when White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president has no intention to formally recognize it. 'There are no plans for a proclamation for the month of June,' Leavitt said. 'But I can tell you this president is very proud to be a president for all Americans, regardless of race, religion, or creed.' Trump's critique of 'gender ideology' has been a cornerstone of his second term. He has declared that there are only two biological sexes; scrubbed agency websites of any mention of transgender or intersex people; stripped diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs from the federal government; barred transgender women from women's sports; prevented federal funding from going to transition-related care for minors; and removed transgender people from the military.