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Politico
4 days ago
- Health
- Politico
A plan to preserve U.S. science leadership
PROBLEM SOLVERS National Academy of Sciences President Marcia McNutt made a plea to the nation's science research community during her second annual State of the Science address in Washington on Tuesday: Course-correct or lose to China. We're in the midst of a 'radical new experiment,' McNutt explained, in which the U.S., by pursuing budget cuts, canceling grants and adopting restrictive research policies, serves as the treatment group, while China is the control. Unforced errors made during the pandemic eroded many Americans' trust in science. But there's still at least one point of agreement: 'Everyone, whether it's scientists or nonscientists alike, wants U.S. science to be the world leader.' To remain a world leader in science innovation, McNutt laid out a plan. Among her key suggestions: — Build on a culture of innovation. McNutt worries that budget cuts will fuel overly conservative project selection and lead to less funding for high-risk, high-reward research. To course-correct, the U.S. should do a data-informed analysis of various peer-review approaches to ensure 'truly innovative' proposals succeed. — Create a national research strategy. 'No sensible business person would attempt to run a multibillion-dollar enterprise without a strategy, and yet that is exactly what we are doing with our research enterprise,' she said. In McNutt's view, relying on Congress to tinker with budgets isn't a strategy. Countries like China, Germany, Japan and Norway maximize research and development investment through strategic planning, primarily with apolitical non-government organizations, McNutt added. — Improve science education. The U.S. is already failing to produce enough STEM students to fill available jobs in science. The Trump administration's clampdown on visas will make it even more difficult for immigrants to fill those jobs. Beyond filling jobs, having science-literate lawyers, politicians and workers in manufacturing and transportation strengthens the nation's scientific enterprise. — Don't retreat from international collaboration. Some cutting-edge research facilities require resources from more than one nation. And when international students return home, their U.S. connections drive further international collaboration. 'We squander opportunities by not taking advantage of the fact that international colleagues want to work with us, and we only disadvantage ourselves,' McNutt said. — Cut red tape. Regulations divert time and money away from science, McNutt argues. And since the Trump administration has prioritized reducing regulations, McNutt hopes that push extends to research regulations. Still, in the Department of Government Efficiency era, that's not a given. 'I worry that the emphasis right now on waste, fraud and abuse only leads to more regulations, as everyone is assumed guilty until proven innocent.' The elephant in the room: The National Academy of Sciences is 'preparing for a fairly radical downsizing' amid the Trump administration's science cuts, McNutt told Stat News last month. A budget shortfall of roughly $40 million resulting from terminated contracts means the organization might have to lay off 250 employees in addition to the 50 members of the 1,000-person staff who have already been let go. WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Pope Leo XIV wants to stop artificial intelligence from playing God. Like his namesake, Pope Leo XIII, who promoted workers' rights during the industrial revolution, the new pope is positioning himself as a guardian in the face of unchecked modern technology, POLITICO's Hannah Roberts reports. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Danny Nguyen at dnguyen@ Carmen Paun at cpaun@ Ruth Reader at rreader@ or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@ Want to share a tip securely? Message us on Signal: Dannyn516.70, CarmenP.82, RuthReader.02 or ErinSchumaker.01. WORLDVIEW England's National Health Service has launched an internal review into an artificial intelligence model being trained on data from 57 million patients in England, our POLITICO colleagues across the pond scooped. Called Foresight, the generative AI model was touted as a 'world-first pilot project' to pinpoint high-risk patient groups and facilitate early interventions. Foresight was trained on de-identified data from millions of people in England, including a large-scale dataset called the General Practice Extraction Service Data for Pandemic Planning and Research. But doctors have serious misgivings about the model being trained on their patient records without proper authorization. What the docs say: Last month, representatives from the British Medical Association and Royal College of General Practitioners wrote to Ming Tang, chief data and analytics officer at NHS England, expressing 'serious concerns about the lawfulness of the data use and the apparent absence of strict governance arrangements,' according to an email seen by POLITICO. The bone of contention is whether NHSE took patient data solely intended for Covid-19 research and incorporated it into an all-purpose AI model. NHSE's guidelines state that applications for accessing patient data must undergo additional review by its Professional Advisory Group. The advisory group approved the British Heart Foundation consortium's use of the primary care data specifically for Covid-related research during the pandemic but was never consulted about large language model training. The official line: An NHSE spokesperson said: 'Maintaining patient privacy is central to this project, and we are grateful to the Joint GP IT Committee for raising its concerns and meeting with us to discuss the strict governance and controls in place to ensure patients' data remains secure.' What's next: The Joint GP IT Committee, which advises on IT matters related to general practice medicine, plans to write to the Information Commissioner directly, a person familiar with the situation told POLITICO. In addition to demanding that the British Medical Association be called as a witness to the Information Commissioner, the joint commission wants 'explicit governance' over future uses of AI and an undertaking that any future emergency measures permitting the use of general practitioners' data contain a sunset clause if doctors haven't been consulted, the person said.
E&E News
4 days ago
- Business
- E&E News
‘State of the science' under Trump? National Academies president plays it safe.
The U.S. is falling behind as a global science leader. Research funding has lagged for years, compounded by current cuts to staff and budgets under President Donald Trump. Those were the grim highlights of the second annual State of the Science address Tuesday by Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences. But the country can change course, she said, by funding education, pursuing international collaborations and advancing national research strategies. Advertisement Despite her stark warnings, McNutt took an understated approach to the chaos consuming U.S. research.
