Summary
Cuts to federal research funding under Trump are closing off career pathways for young scientists. NIH has suspended training programs, forcing researchers scramble for alternatives.
Universities are cutting graduate admissions and freezing hiring due to uncertainty, with agencies like NSF and USAID also delaying or reducing grants.
Some students are considering moving abroad for research opportunities.
Experts warn this could damage U.S. scientific leadership and diplomacy, as other nations, particularly China, may attract displaced talent and research collaborations.
How long until the next, deadlier, plague shows up? Laurie Garrett did some pretty great analyses back in the 90s based on population density and mobility in The Coming Plague that worked pretty well for COVID, iirc. With the collapse of biomedical shields at NIH and CDC, I shudder to envision a pathogen like the one in Contagion showing up for Act II of the American Shitshow.