A graduate of a respected MD-PhD program and a competitive residency and research fellowship told me a similar story. They were on track to successfully launching a lab and supervising graduate students and postdocs. However, in response to diminished funding, many universities have instituted hiring freezes, and deeper cuts are expected. Some have even rescinded offers to prospective researchers. “Nobody is hiring, and who knows how long in the future this will extend?” the person said.
In addition, the NIH institute this scientist typically relies on for funding might vanish altogether under a proposed reorganization that would consolidate the agency’s 27 institutes and centers into just eight. “There’s so much uncertainty, it’s just devastating,” said the scientist, who is now actively applying for jobs in the private sector.
Established researchers also face an uncertain future. A physician-scientist who oversees several major HIV research programs said one federal grant that is routinely funded was not even reviewed this year because it contained language about sexual and gender minorities. Another large trial of a medication to prevent HIV transmission lost most of its support and had to be drastically scaled back. Many planned analyses have been canceled.
This researcher now spends every spare moment writing grant applications, in hopes of keeping the research alive and the team employed. However, far fewer grants are getting funded. At one NIH institution, about 10 percent of grant applications were accepted in fiscal 2024. In fiscal 2025, the rate dropped to just 4 percent, meaning that, to succeed, an application has to outperform 96 percent of the competition. “It’s throwing spaghetti at the wall, hoping something will stick,” the physician-scientist said.
Another senior scientist, a pediatric cancer researcher at an East Coast institution, leads a 10-year-old NIH-funded summer program for underprivileged high school students. A select few are chosen to conduct laboratory research, each one earning a weekly stipend of about $400. For many of these students, the income is essential for covering meals, bus passes and support for their families.
This summer, 13 students were accepted among 200 applicants, but none of the promised funds arrived, causing the students considerable distress. The scientist reached out to foundations and private donors to cover some costs. When the federal funding eventually arrived, it was significantly less than the grant amount.
This scientist cannot revert to full-time clinical practice the way physician-researchers can to justify their salaries. “How am I going to stand in front of 50 students motivating them to go into STEM when I don’t know if I will have a job next week?” the person asked.
Only one of the scientists I talked with agreed to be named: Natoshia Cunningham, a clinical psychologist and associate professor in the department of family medicine at Michigan State University. Her husband, who was a senior scientist at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, saw his research group decimated and has gone to work for a family construction business.
