‘A scary time to be a scientist’: how medical research cuts will hurt the maternal mortality crisis | Trump administration
On Tuesday, a few days after Trump administration Declare Her plan to reduce Billions of dollars in a funding for biomedical and behavioral research, the investigator at a mother health research center in Pennsylvania, Dr. Megan Lin Sal said that the cuts may lead to leaving the academic circles completely.
Urging her hot not to make any sudden movements. “Not something that did not happen. Lynn, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said,” No one threatened her job. “
She advised her colleague to update her CV.
Among the many areas of research threatened by financing discounts is the increasing effort To curb the mother’s average in the United States, which is Much worse than other rich countries. Not only did the discounts delay vital breaches, but women’s health experts warn that they may also push promising young scientists outside the field.
“In addition to stopping progress, we will see this cavity of the workforce that works on this research,” said Lin Vall. “This will resonate for years, if not contracts.”
Late last week, the Trump administration announced that the National Health Institutes (NIH) will only pay 15 % of the “indirect costs” of researchers, which can be paid for expenses such as employees and laboratory maintenance. Usually, such costs Hover at about 50 % For elite universities. If the indirect costs are low, then the scientists and institutions in which they work say they will not be able to conduct research.
The court ordered that the Trump administration suspend politics earlier this week, but this change – That was It is said that Elon Musk’s work “The Ministry of Governmental efficiency” (Duj) – It is suspicious of the future of the national health institutes, The first general texture of the planet From biomedical research. In 2023, the National Health Institutes spent more than $ 35 billion on grants. If implemented, the new policy will be at least $ 4 billion in financing, But its effect can light up further, The ability of research institutions – especially the smallest – is exposed to doing their work at all.
Mother’s death rate in the United States Nearly 2018 and 2022With increasing mortality rates between blacks and indigenous people or new mothers in an impartially rapid section. This provides for this Donald Trump WON may be particularly hit due to discounts in the National Institutes of Health: they are home to some of the worst maternal mortality rates in the country.
To address this crisis, the National Institutes of Health in 2023 launched a seven -year initiative of $ 168 million to establish more than ten research centers to investigate the results of the mother’s health and improve, in addition to helping to train new maternal health researchers. The future of these centers-one of which is led by Lane-Fall-is now a question.
“We are working with agencies in 20 Michigan Province – which includes more than 7 million people – to be able to improve services so that mothers and death do not get sick,” said Dr. Jennifer E Johnson, Michigan State University. General Health Professor who helps in managing a research center in Flint, Michigan. “To do this, we need offices. We need electricity. We need lights, heat, infrastructure and people to create and sell contracts. Every support will be cut greatly.”
Usually, Johnson said, the National Institutes of Health pay about 57 % of indirect costs to grant Michigan State University, including her salary. She said that it is not possible that the university cover these costs alone or its position to reduce its indirect costs.
Johnson said: “If we cannot run the lights and we cannot pay the rent and we cannot appoint people – I don’t know what we will do,” Johnson said. “The search is the car. All infrastructure costs are the road. You can go for a short time, but if there is no maintenance on it, this is a problem.”
Many institutions that host mother health centers – which tend to focus on improving mothers’ deaths between colored societies and rural societies – will lose millions of national health institutes discounts. Stanford University officials He said that the school, whose center aims to reduce the risk of a serious postpartum bleeding, will take a loss of $ 160 million. Utah UniversityWhich is studying how drug addiction affects pregnancy, will lose $ 45 million.
The guardian communicates with dozens of researchers who have NIH grants to study Women, children and parents. Many rejected the speech, often cited the constant certainty of the situation. “I am frankly not sure of what I say like most of my colleagues, I came out of guarding, and it is really unclear how this will be exposed now after the courts’ participation.”
While the Republicans were generally supporting musk Relative pieces of pieces To the government in the past few weeks, some members of Congress It expressed the warning of the national health institutes Discounts. “It is very radical. So I think we need to look at this,” Shelli Moore Capito, a member of the Senate in West Virginia, I told the Washington Post. Senator Alabama Katie Brett said she intends to work with Robert F. Kennedy Junior, The new leader From the Ministry of Health and Humanitarian Services, to address the effect. “A smart, targeted approach is needed in order not to hinder life -saving research and pioneer in high -end tolerance institutions, such as those in Alabama,” I.com told.
One of the agencies behind the mother’s health centers is the Research Office concerned with the National Informatics Institutes on Women’s Health – whose location has been on the web by the Trump administration Modern, wide -ranging cleansing of government sites. Links to pages on Research Office on Women’s Health website On “financing and notifications”, all research programs and initiatives “and” support for women in biomedics functions “disappeared.
“It is a frightening time to be a scientist in the United States,” said Johnson, who is also concerned about him. Recent reports on efforts In the National Science Corporation – a fraternal agency from the National Institutes of Health focusing on scientific and engineering research – to audit projects that include words such as “women”, “disability” and “an active actress”. Johnson continued, “Suddenly, we are working in a world that we are not sure that we will allow us to say what the data shows clearly,” Johnson continued.
On Monday, on the day when the new policy was supposed to pay in effect, the American Medical Colleges Association filed a lawsuit against it.
“Even in largest institutions and good resources, this illegal measure will impose tremendous damage, including the ability of these institutions to contribute to medical and scientific breakthroughs,” the association, which represents many American medical colleges that host mother health centers, he said In a lawsuit. The association continued: “The smaller institutions will be issued worse – in the face of more non -refundable costs on every dollar received, many will not be able to maintain any research at all and can close it completely.”
Then a Trump federal judge ordered Discounts suspensionWriting by order of the court that the implementation of the discounts would cause “an immediate, unforgiving injury.” A listening session was appointed in the case on February 21.
However, it is unclear if Trump will obey. Although the administration is a law required to recognize the orders of the court, A federal judge ruling in another case This week, Trump challenged an order to stop a separate freezing in federal financing. Imprisoning the orders of the court is permissible to raise the confrontation between the executive and judicial branches of the government – and a constitutional crisis.
Regardless of Matthew, and how grants work in the national health institutes in the future, Lane-Fall believes that the chaos he launched Trump administration He has already led science to suffering. Lane-Fall had to stop plans to hold a conference and inform some post-PhD students that they could not move forward in research projects. She is now concerned that mother health centers – which have been built with local groups that close Doulas and breastfeeding between black women and more – are compensated for these groups.
“One of the really important trends in mother and child health research is that we are now working with societies more than ever, because we understand that there is a lot of live experience and experience in societies. Part of what makes this partnership possible is that we are able to compensate them for their time,” because we understand that there is a lot of experience and live experience in societies. Lin Val said. “When we go to these societies and say:” We promised money, but there may be no ” – this is devastating.”
Dr. Nancy E Lyn is chasing the idea that confusion will lead women’s health scientists to leave academic circles. University of California, Davis, Doctor of Osteoporosis and Arthritis, Lynn was part of 2024 A report calling for more funding for the National Institutes of Health for Women’s Health. Between 2013 and 2023, only 8.8 % of the dollars of the National Institutes of Health focused on investigating this.
“My career has benefited greatly from resources from national institutes health. Lynn said: “This is what made me from me.” “How much will this generation will go before they throw their hands?”
