To the Editor:
Not since the launch of Sputnik in 1957 has the scientific community faced such upheaval. Back then, it was a rallying cry for investment in science – an effort that led to groundbreaking technologies, medical advancements, and a deeper understanding of the natural world. Today, however, science faces a very different challenge: efforts to dismantle, defund, and undermine its essential role in society.
The changes will have consequences in our community from decreasing scientific research at our local colleges and universities, to public health initiatives.
Beyond discovery, science is an economic engine. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) 2023 figures, every dollar in NIH funding generated $2.46 of economic activity. For every 100 million dollars in NIH funding 76 patents are generated. The value of those patents (which also generates money back to the NIH) that come from NIH sponsored research drives an economic value 20% higher than private research. In plain words: research results in dollars spent in our community for results that improve medical treatments and help us solve everyday problems.
In New Jersey, drastic cuts to indirect funding will create financial shortfalls that even large institutions cannot absorb. In Mercer County, both The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) and Princeton will be forced to shutter some research. And, as documented by Rutgers professor Dr. Annika Barber of Trenton, grant hearings are not being held, threatening funding for the years to come. Science is the great meritocracy, where students with talent who are willing to work hard can contribute to our country, establish a good career and a middle-class life. Now whether they are high school students or undergraduate students wishing to get more education, the doors will be closed to the next generation.
According to Dr. Kelly Bidle, Dean at the College of Arts and Sciences at Rider University, Rider draws most of its students from Mercer County and surrounding areas. Funding from the NIH and National Science Foundation (NSF) has enabled Rider to send more than 150 undergraduates on to advanced degrees in the sciences.
“It starts at the bench at Rider where students learn basic skills,” Bidle said. “If there is no funding at the graduate level there is no pipeline.”
Public health is the science of improving the health of communities. Scientists have spent decades advocating for cleaner air and healthy water for everyone. The Trump Administration has eliminated the term “climate change” from government documents and is defunding clean water and air efforts. A proposed 65% budget cut to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been announced.
Each nominee for heads of agencies at Health & Human Services has voiced doubts about vaccination. The latest measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico including the needless death of an unvaccinated child speaks to the change in our country since 2000 when measles was declared eradicated in the U.S. The cancelling of the childhood vaccine committee meeting at the CDC and the flu vaccine committee at the FDA indicate a step away from the greatest public health achievement of the 20th century.
We already see the consequences in our communities. New Jersey produces very little small particulate matter pollution – our pollution comes from air currents moving west to east. Many of us know a child with severe asthma or an adult who has developed asthma – a condition that was rare when I completed my medical training. Without the EPA regulating pollution nationally, New Jersey will remain at the mercy of upwind pollution and the ongoing denial of settled science.
If you want a better world, science can help solve its greatest challenges. If you care about medical progress, if you want your children to have the opportunity to pursue careers in science, now is the time to act. Join us at the StandUpForScience2025 rally this Friday, March 7 at the New Jersey State Capital Plaza from noon to 2 pm and make your voice heard.
Sincerely,
Dr. Janet Krommes, M.D.
Chair, FDA Task Force, Doctors For America
Titusville
