28-01-2025
‘A terrible way to treat scientists': Trump directives sow uncertainty, fear among area labs and hospitals
The sudden changes sent fear and confusion through one of the world's major science hubs, as researchers scrambled to grasp the status of their funding and sort fact from rumor.
Advertisement
I ran
— Atul Gawande (@Atul_Gawande)
Around 40 percent of all basic research in the United States is government funded, and
Dr. David Hamer, a professor of global health and medicine at the Boston University School of Public Health, said the turmoil landed just before a major NIH grant deadline of Feb. 5.
'I have two resubmissions I'm working on,' said Hamer, who conducts surveillance on emerging infectious diseases. 'Should we not do these, or what's going to happen?'
Advertisement
For Dr. Jeremy Faust, a Boston emergency medicine doctor and public health researcher, the gag order that halted some data updates to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website was especially alarming. Last week, the agency failed to post new data to its COVID and flu vaccination dashboard and to a site that tracks the rise of new COVID variants. Last Thursday, for the first time in decades, the agency didn't publish its
'That to me was the real, real chilling moment: If they take away our data, then we're flying blind,' said Faust, who writes the popular Substack newsletter
CDC data is just dripping out. High level covid, flu, & RSV released as scheduled today but not the weekly flu deeper dive (aka Fluveiw) or ILI (general count of cough and fever). Also still no bird flu MMWRs, but yes data.
This sure doesn't seem like freedom to me
— Katelyn Jetelina (@dr_kkjetelina)
On Wednesday, Faust posted to social media asking researchers to get in touch if their work was impacted by the pause on grant reviews. He received a smattering of answers, many accompanied by what he called 'a palpable fear that even telling me this could ruin their career or could ruin their lab,' he said.
'I mean, what a terrible way to treat scientists,' he said. 'These are people who are trying to make the world safer for all of us.'
A Boston-area researcher staff member who didn't want to be named for fear of retribution from the Trump administration said her group had started to explore private sources of funding as alternatives to the NIH.
'I'm pretty devastated on a personal level,' she said, adding that she was doubtful that funding opportunities would ever fully bounce back.
Advertisement
She said she was panicked for her job as well as for the future of her field, and was equally concerned about Trump's directive to end all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across the government and in federal contracts.
'The grants we work on are typically focused on equity, and so it feels sort of like a double whammy,' she said. 'Even if some level of funding comes back, we're probably not going to be funded, or we'll have to change our proposal to not include those words.'
Sonkusale was also concerned about the
'I am worried about sound science, being able to look at the impact of diseases in different groups,' he said. 'I hope they are not going to say stop doing that.'
Trump's recent actions are not a repeat of his first term. During the early days of 2017, he focused on rolling back climate change regulations and repealing Obamacare. This time, Trump's actions
Advertisement
In recent days, however, there were some signs of continuity amid the chaos. Sonkusale also receives funding from the National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency that supports science and engineering research, but he said he has not received any notices from them about cancellations or freezes.
Asked whether the Foundation was also freezing, or pausing, grant reviews or taking any other similar actions at this time, a spokesperson responded in an email: 'The US National Science Foundation is reviewing executive orders and implementing accordingly. We look forward to working with the new administration to ensure long-term US competitiveness in all fields of science and engineering for our economic and national security.'
Dr. George Kuchel, a geriatrician and professor of geriatrics at the UConn Center on Aging, sits on the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The group provides recommendations to the CDC on how often vaccines, including for flu, COVID, and RSV, should be given and to whom, and whether the benefits of individual vaccines outweigh the risks. Kuchel said that as far as he knew the group's next regular meeting, in late February, was still on.
Another of his national scientific meetings, however, was canceled abruptly. Last Friday, he'd been planning to attend a meeting held by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, a government agency that funds research into tough health challenges that have a hard time attracting commercial support.
Kuchel had planned to attend to get more information for a grant he is planning to apply for to support his work, which focuses on the science of aging, including why some people experience more age-related cognitive and mobility problems than others. He said he has no idea where the canceled meeting leaves him.
Advertisement
'People are just trying to figure out what is going on,' he said. 'With any change in administration, there has always been anxiety. I think there has been some concern about reorganization of NIH, but I don't think anybody knows at this point.'
For Faust, the week ended on a positive note. By Friday, health agencies had updated most of the data he needed for his dashboard.
'There was less reporting than usual, but it was not a massive change,' he wrote by email. 'Hospital capacity is so important, and thankfully most (though not all) of the data were updated.'
of the Globe staff contributed reporting.
Anna Kuchment can be reached at
