Federal Cuts Unleash an "Existential Crisis in Harvard Research"

Researchers at Harvard University, especially at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS), are in a “survival state” following a destructive wave of federally funded grant terminations. These massive cuts, exceeding $2.7 billion, are part of a targeted pressure campaign led by the Trump administration.

The situation has been described as an "existential crisis in Harvard research" by HSPH officials, as the school relies on federal funds and external sponsorships for 59% of its budget, a higher percentage than other Harvard schools. The administration terminated around 350 research grants for HMS and nearly all direct federal grants for HSPH, affecting more than 130 scientists. In the long term, HSPH is projected to potentially lose up to $100 million annually in federal funds.

The impact is immediate and tangible on essential research. The Botswana Harvard Health Partnership, a leading center for HIV research and treatment development, saw almost all its federal funding abruptly pulled. This could force the interruption of 11 clinical trials and the loss of more than 150 jobs in Botswana (over 240 have already been eliminated).

The work of Professor Alberto Ascherio, which involves “irreplaceable” blood samples for therapeutic interventions for multiple sclerosis (MS) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), has literally frozen; researchers only hope to have sufficient funding to keep the freezers running. Professor Sarah Fortune received a stop-work order on her $60 million tuberculosis research contract.

The consequences extend to patients. HMS professor Kanaka Rajan noted that these cuts are "actively harming patients" enrolled in clinical trials seeking treatments for resistant conditions. HMS Dean George Q. Daley lamented that with every halted experiment, cures are forfeited and the development of treatments is delayed.

Researchers consider the impact greater than any single laboratory, describing it as a dismantling of the national research enterprise. The lack of adequate alternative funds exacerbates the crisis. While Harvard has promised bridge funding, this is considered insufficient to cover long-term needs and ensure the retention of the best scientists.

The consistency and scale of private support cannot match federal funding. Projects focused on public health or chronic diseases are often ineligible for private foundations, which tend to focus on specific aspects (like Alzheimer's).

The cuts are “choking the pipeline” that produces the next generation of scientists. Harvard/MIT’s M.D.-Ph.D. Physician Scientist Training Program lost its NIH funding. Scientists in training, including Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows, have lost salary support. As a result, many young scientists are looking for jobs abroad or outside academia, applying to companies like Amazon or Facebook for statistics and AI roles, which represents a “waste of their talent and idealism”.

The devastation is also global, as the cancellation of Harvard's primary grants has annulled subcontracts at partner institutions worldwide, from South Africa and Madagascar to the University of California in San Francisco and Boston University. This not only damages relationships with partners but also the stability of public health organizations that relied on those funds.

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🔖 Sources

Harvard public health school confronts severe financial crisis, seeks corporate sponsors

Funding cuts create ‘existential crisis’ at Harvard Chan School

After a Semester of Catastrophic Federal Cuts, Researchers at Harvard Are in a ‘Survival State’

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