This article is reprinted from National Review with the permission of the author.
I am rather amazed at the hysteria within the science sector because of DOGE investigations, proposed changes in status quo funding, and the canceling of some truly crackers scientific studies, such as researching transgender hormone injections in animals. But there is definitely some wailing and gnashing of teeth. A Nature survey found that 75 percent of the journal’s readers answering the online survey are “considering leaving the country.” From the Nature story:
The massive changes in US research brought about by the new administration of President Donald Trump are causing many scientists in the country to rethink their lives and careers. More than 1,200 scientists who responded to a Nature poll — three-quarters of the total respondents — are considering leaving the United States following the disruptions prompted by Trump. Europe and Canada were among the top choices for relocation.
The trend was particularly pronounced among early-career researchers. Of the 690 postgraduate researchers who responded, 548 were considering leaving; 255 of 340 PhD students said the same.
Methinks there is less here than meets the eye. First, considering the number of scientists in the country, that’s a paltry number of respondents. Second, it was self-selected and probably reflects respondents who are more ideological or have been personally impacted by the changes in approach. Yup:
But many of the 1,200-plus individuals who said they are planning to leave highlighted the challenges they see ahead. “I am faculty and want to stay as long as I can [to] support my lab and students, but if the NIH is dramatically cut we may not have a choice to stay in the US,” one person wrote. Another respondent is actively applying only to positions in Europe: “I am transgender, and the 1–2 punch makes it improbable that the life I want to live is a viable option in this country.” (The Trump administration is attacking transgender rights through a variety of policies.)
Meanwhile, former NIH Director Francis Collins is “concerned” about the current administration’s policies. From the Bethesda magazine story:
“This [administration] has involved quite a number of really quite dramatic actions that are degrading the ability of NIH to perform the mission that I think the taxpayers expect us to do, in terms of making discoveries about how life works and how disease happens and what to do about it,” Collins said. “We’ve been incredibly successful at that over these many decades — deaths from heart disease and deaths from cancer are dropping significantly. Sickle cell disease is being cured.”
Collins said he is concerned the NIH layoffs will encourage young, highly educated scientists to move to countries that are prioritizing health science research.
“All of those folks are really deeply alarmed about whether that career path is there for them, ” Collins said. “We were always the place where everybody wanted to come to pursue their scientific dreams. Now the idea that that might flip around the other way is almost inconceivable.”
Physician, heal thyself. Whatever problems now exist for the public medical research funding sector, the disappointing Collins helped create them with his shameful performance during Covid — including attempts to stifle scientific debate.
The United States needs a thriving health research science sector. Given the failures of the last several years, some changes in approach were definitely needed. I am fully confident that the new NIH director, Jay Bhattacharya (who is my friend), will be more than up to the job. Indeed, he is bubbling with ideas for reform and innovation and has already directed the agency to take steps to end censorship in science. Go Jay!