Harvard scientists are sounding the alarm about potential breakthroughs slipping away as Trump puts a stop to $2.6 billion in research funding.

Harvard University professor Alberto Ascherio's research is currently at a standstill. For over two decades, blood samples collected from millions of US soldiers, funded by taxpayer dollars, have been stored in liquid nitrogen freezers at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Ascherio, an expert in epidemiology and nutrition, relies on these samples for his groundbreaking research aimed at finding a cure for multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases. Unfortunately, he’s been unable to access them for months after losing $7 million in federal research funding, a consequence of Harvard's ongoing conflict with the Trump administration. “It feels like we’ve built a state-of-the-art telescope to explore the universe, and now we can’t afford to launch it,” Ascherio expressed. “We’ve done all the groundwork and are poised to make discoveries that could change millions of lives, and then, just like that, funding is cut off.” Researchers laid off and science shelved The estimated $2.6 billion loss in federal funding at Harvard has led to some of the world’s leading researchers having to let go of young talent. They are putting years, even decades, of research on hold, covering topics from opioid addiction to cancer. Despite Harvard's legal battles against the administration and ongoing settlement discussions, researchers are facing the harsh reality that some of their projects may never see the light of day again. These funding cuts are part of a prolonged struggle that the Trump administration has waged against several top universities, including Columbia, Brown, and Northwestern. Harvard has been particularly targeted, with funding frozen after the institution declined to comply with a series of demands from a federal antisemitism task force.

NEWS