It appears Trump recinds freeze. If he tries it again how will Trump’s pause on federal loans and grants impact HepB research and cure? Functional cures that are close to final phase of the trial period, how will be impacted by this if any?
Dear @TomPsu
I’m a US scientist (at Saint Louis University) so I’ve been following this closely.
The situation is so unclear that nothing can be said with a lot of confidence. As of now, Trump’s freeze on the large majority of US grants appears to be cancelled, but the cancellation statement is so contradictory that it is unclear if it is really cancelled. We cannot directly ask our partners at the NIH or NSF as he’s imposed a communication freeze on NIH and NSF personnel. He has also cancelled “peer review committees” (the committees that evaluate scientific potential of grant applications) and NIH “council” meetings (the committees that make most of the funding decisions) that were to have met in late January/early February. He also apparently paused processing of routine grant renewals (this is done annually for multi-year grants) because one of my renewals has been held up without explanation. The only clarity was that clinical trials at the NIH’s campus in Maryland could continue, but it was even unclear a day or 2 ago if clinical trials funded by the NIH at universities and companies around the country could continue (it now appears that they can).
Most of this disruption is likely to be temporary, but there is no guarantee that things will return to normal. The stated reason for the disruptions is to ensure that all NIH and NSF activities follow the Trump administration’s policies, particularly ones related to gender and assisting disadvantaged people.
The fear in the scientific community is that the NIH and NSF’s long-standing insulation from political interference in selection and operation of scientific studies will be reduced. That would be a disaster for advancing science and medicine to improve care for people who need it. Science works best when ideas are evaluated in an unbiased, fact-based manner. I am deeply concerned that the tradition of pursuing the best science regardless of ideology that has existed under all US administrations, Republican and Democratic, since the NIH began its large scale research mission after World War II is in danger.
My recommendation for the US members of the Community is to reach out to your federal representatives and senators to let them know you support scientific and medical research, and that you feel research needs to be done without political interference or bias.
John.
Hi @john.tavis,
Well said. This is the mess that 74 million citizens of this country decided to put us all through because the prices of eggs and gas are high due to inflation. Inflation is worse in other countries than in the US, but half of the people in this country do not seem to care. They voted for chaos, and I hope they buckle up as this is just the beginning. Unfortunately, this will affect us all.
I agree with your advice for people to contact their representatives and senators, but I doubt if they are Republicans they will care. Because in their eyes the president has a mandate and can do whatever he wants. They won’t do a thing, they will ask how high he wants them to jump. It is sad watching this country being burned down from the inside. I hope and pray we do not get any new outbreaks in the next 4 years. I hope I am wrong but we have seen this rodeo before. Best, Bansah1
Dear Bright,
These are my feelings exactly.
John.
Thanks all for raising the issue of destabilised funding for research on hepatitis B cure development.
I’m going to let the conversation hold here, as long as it stays narrowly on-topic. However, as per the golden rules, we do want to keep this forum apolitical - in major part because I would like this to be a place where we can actually escape some of the emotionally draining news that are just all too accessible on other platforms.
Hope you all understand,
TT