WIKIMEDIA COMMONS | Scientists, policymakers and a diverse community of science advocates gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial March 7 as part of a nationwide rally protesting cuts to scientific research funding.
Georgetown University community members were among thousands of rally-goers at a Washington, D.C. “Stand Up for Science” protest March 7.
The rally was one of a nationwide series hosted by Stand Up for Science, a volunteer movement dedicated to defending the contributions of science to the public good and social progress. The D.C. protest at the Lincoln Memorial featured scientists, policymakers and a diverse community of science advocates speaking out in opposition to federal cuts in research funding, rollbacks of diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility (DEIA) measures and political interference in science.
Speakers at the event included prominent public figures such as Bill Nye, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), Dr. Allison Agwu from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Dr. Atul Gawande from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and Dr. Francis Collins, former director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Mun Chun (MC) Chan, an associate teaching professor in Georgetown University’s biology department and an event attendee, said he was moved by the firsthand accounts of people whose lives have been impacted by recent cuts to research funding, such as the cancellation of clinical trials in which they had been participating.
“It is easy to think about the impact of this funding pause on scientists and research institutions,” Chan wrote to The Hoya. “It’s easy to forget that there are also patients, there are also people that rely on the scientific information, may that be people who need weather predictions, farmers who rely on the development of new plant varieties that are resistant to pests, or vulnerable populations who need epidemiological studies that help us keep track of known and novel communicable diseases.”
Chan said that while hearing the stories of those most strongly impacted can be powerful, the responsibility to fight for science falls equally on everyone.
“To be successful, direct action cannot only be the purview of those directly affected by a particular policy,” Chan wrote. “We need to be there for one another.”
Trump’s cuts to science have included block cuts — limiting federal funding for “indirect” laboratory expenses, including all overhead costs, to 15% — and cuts seen as politically targeted, including terminating NIH grants for projects studying, among other things, transgender health and vaccine hesitancy.
Meghan Bullard, a fourth-year doctoral student in the biology department who conducts neuroimmunology research at Georgetown, said these cuts have directly affected her scientific career.
“There’s an attack on biomedical research that is happening, and I’m just not the type of person to be able to sit back and let that happen,” Bullard told The Hoya.
Bullard added that Trump’s executive orders have forced staff at the National Science Foundation (NSF) to reconsider aspects of current research based on words the administration has flagged as unacceptable.
“They include a lot of things that we would talk about, like ‘women’ and ‘female,’ so that’s one thing that my boss said: ‘You probably need to take any mention of gender out of your biosketch,’” Bullard said. “When we do multiple sclerosis research, MS affects women more than it affects men, and there’s a huge question of how they’re going to screen for these words.”
Shelli Fynewever, a Georgetown parent who attended the rally, said she worries that the Trump administration’s moves will hinder scientific research and therefore affect patient outcomes.
“I can say that my father’s life has been saved from pancreatic cancer because of recent advancements in science,” Fynewever wrote to The Hoya. “Although this is an amazing outcome for my dad and my family, I fear for those who will be diagnosed this year, when new treatments aren’t even being developed, let alone available to save lives.”
Samantha Goldstein, an organizer with Stand Up for Science and a doctoral student at the University of Florida researching the intersection of intimate partner violence and traumatic brain injuries in women survivors, said the organization’s rapid mobilization has been a source of hope for her.
“I firmly believe all of us were in the wrong place at the right time,” Goldstein wrote to The Hoya. “Wrong place, because the direct attacks on science via federal funding cuts, government censorship and discrimination against underrepresented students and researchers is not a place any of us want to be, ever. Right time, because we rose to the occasion, organized, mobilized and formed an impactful movement that elevates hope during unprecedented times of darkness and despair.”
Bullard said she was moved when Collins, a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom who is known for leading the Human Genome Project, shared a song with rallygoers.
“It was like a campfire song, so everyone was singing along with him. He had a guitar and was playing music,” Bullard said. “It was a really calming moment and a moment of, ‘Collective action is going to work,’ collective action means something, and science means something to every person here.”
Chan said he hopes students will remain committed to both their pursuit of scientific careers and their resistance to cuts to scientific funding.
“Don’t preemptively give up or change what you wish to pursue based on these actions; continue to apply, to find your space in science,” Chan wrote. “We need your work, your passion, your ideas and brilliance.”
All opinions shared by Chan are his and his alone; they do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the biology department, the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship or Georgetown University.