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A decades-long boom in brain science in the United States may be heading for a bust. Ongoing disruptions in federal funding are causing many young neuroscientists to reconsider their careers. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports that losing these scientists could slow research on everything from autism to Alzheimer's.
JON HAMILTON, BYLINE: About 20,000 brain scientists are expected to gather in San Diego this weekend for the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. But Clara Zundel, a postdoctoral researcher at Wayne State University, won't be there.
CLARA ZUNDEL: Because of the funding changes, you know, I had to consider travel cost this year.
HAMILTON: Zundel studies how pollution affects the developing brain. Her work is funded by the National Institutes of Health. But since President Trump took office, the NIH has been buffeted by cuts, grant terminations and abrupt policy changes. So Zundel is unsure whether support for her research will continue or if she'll be able to find a steady job.
ZUNDEL: Many universities are still on partial or even full hiring freezes. And so it's just made it really, really scary to think about how I'm going to take that next step.
HAMILTON: Even so, Zundel isn't ready to abandon her career plans just yet.
ZUNDEL: Talk to me in another three months, I mean, I might change my mind, but I absolutely love what I do. I want to continue doing what I do, and I want to continue to do that here in the United States.
HAMILTON: Other young researchers are less certain, says John Morrison, a professor at the University of California Davis and president of the Society for Neuroscience.
JOHN MORRISON: You hear things like, I've prepared my whole life for this. Is it gone now? Is it no longer possible to be the scientist that I always wanted to be? Many will just choose something else.
HAMILTON: ...Or take their research to another country. Morrison says what's at stake is the next generation of scientists who will study the circuitry underlying disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and schizophrenia.
MORRISON: The U.S. has been a world leader in research for decades, and that leadership position is now at risk.
HAMILTON: The NIH often awards five-year grants, and scientists tend to structure their research around that timeline. But Morrison says many awarded grants have been paused or summarily terminated by the Trump administration.
MORRISON: If you disrupt the grant in the middle of it, you're going to disrupt that whole progression, and you'll get to a point where the work that you've already done is worthless.
HAMILTON: Federal health officials say the cuts reflect an effort to reduce waste, end support of woke science and align research with the administration's priorities. Morrison says cuts can produce short-term savings, but in the long run, he says, the human and financial costs will be huge.
MORRISON: We often quote Mary Lasker, who was a renowned advocate for biomedical research and launched the Lasker prize. And she said, if you think research is expensive, try disease.
HAMILTON: Brain science has long enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress. Diane Lipscombe, a professor at Brown University, is chair of government and public affairs at the Society for Neuroscience. She says one reason lawmakers support basic research is that, ever since World War II, it has been a huge boost to the U.S. economy.
DIANE LIPSCOMBE: I don't think we've ever talked to anyone in the Congress who disagreed with that.
HAMILTON: But cuts and disruptions have come from the executive branch, not Congress. So neuroscientists are taking their case directly to the public. The society's website, for example, now includes videos of scientists explaining what they do and why it matters. Lipscombe thinks that message will be heard, and when she talks to young scientists asking for career advice, she tries to offer an optimistic message.
LIPSCOMBE: You just have to stay with what you know is what you love because things will get better.
HAMILTON: At least that's the hope.
Jon Hamilton, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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