Grant & Growth #3 - Congress May Protect the NIH budget - but can it stop it from breaking the law?

The Senate bill rejects proposed cuts to indirect costs and a major NIH reorganization, maintaining the status quo. This echoes a pattern from the first Trump administration, where repeated White House budget proposals for NIH and NCI cuts were consistently overridden by Congress. Current concerns center on whether Congress will continue to stand up for science, making the Appropriations Committee's action a positive sign.

Then again, President Trump's August 7 Executive Order on federal grant making dampens any hope that Congress may be giving. The requirement for each agency to designate a senior appointee to review funding opportunities and grant awards appears to be overt political control, undermining the expert-driven system that has fueled scientific advancements and economic growth. It also suggests that regardless of what Congress appropriates for NIH, NSF and others, the White House will decide what actually is spent and how.

The SCIMaP team's interactive visualization powerfully illustrates the impact of ongoing funding cuts, projecting both current and future losses based on existing policies. This sobering view, which transcends simplistic political divides as previously noted, allows users to examine potential effects at the county level. It is worth watching as the next fiscal year gets underway in just a few weeks on October 1st.

A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report (via The Hill) revealed that the Trump administration unlawfully directed the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to cancel approximately 1,800 research grants, violating the Impoundment Control Act. This finding was both sobering and heartening - that this was in fact true is sobering.

While I was still at NCI, just a few weeks ago, people would often voice the concern that they were being made party to something illegal. We were told the President can set priorities, including what gets funded, and while this is of course true, it does not absolve him of the responsibility to assert his priorities lawfully, and respecting Congress’ responsibilities.

Heartening is that these findings can still see the light of day. GAO findings are not legally binding, but may influence congressional actions and raise concerns over the future of medical research funding amidst ongoing political pressures. Of course, they may also lead the firing of people who wrote this report…

Meanwhile, 15% budget cuts loom in Canada, across most government departments raising alarms among scientists and university groups who argue that trimming research funding would undermine the country’s long-term competitiveness and contradict the government’s stated emphasis on investing in the future.

Where a mentor shares relevant experiences and lessons learned, and a consultant recommends specific actions, a coach helps clients explore, gain awareness, identify obstacles, and reframe perspectives.

Becoming a coach is requiring me to "unlearn" some established behaviors, a challenging yet liberating process. Holding back, collaborating and then witnessing a client's energized shift in perspective is the most rewarding e.

This gap in privacy should deter users from adopting AI for sensitive discussions, especially as companies like OpenAI grapple with legal demands for user data and frankly don’t exactly have a sparkling track record of respecting boundaries.

So, for now, humans still have the edge when it comes to taking care of other humans. #coachedbyhumans

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has canceled nearly $500 million in contracts for developing mRNA vaccines, acording to an August 5th story in the New York Times (full access gift link). This targets the most agile vaccine technology capable of producing immunizations in weeks rather than months, and so represents a significant setback for pandemic preparedness as well as vaccine research. As detailed by user chrisdh79 on Reddit’s r/inthenews this was roundly criticized on social, but to what effect is unclear. Time for the private sector to step up. (Worried about vaccines more broadly, with the fall just ahead? I recommend reading this post from the Your Local Epidemiologist newsletter.)