Trump's NIH budget cuts threaten ‘entire fields of research,’ stirring panic among scientists
Layoffs, funding freezes, and executive orders spark outcry among federal researchers and university partners, fearing that science itself is under siege.
“This is simply the end.”
That was the five-word message that Rick Huganir, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, received from a colleague just before 6 p.m. two Fridays ago, with news that would send a wave of panic through the scientific community.
When Huganir clicked on the link in the email, from fellow JHU neuroscientist Alex Kolodkin, he saw a new National Institutes of Health policy designed to slash federal spending on the indirect costs that keep universities and research institutes operating, including for new equipment, maintenance, utilities and support staff.
“Am I reading this right 15%??” Huganir wrote back in disbelief, suddenly worried the cut could stall 25 years of work.
In 1998, Huganir discovered a gene called SYNGAP1. About 1% of all children with intellectual disabilities have a mutation of the gene. He’s working to develop drugs to treat these children, who often have learning differences, seizures and sleep problems. He said his research is almost entirely reliant on NIH grants.
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