Advocacy Network Newsletter

Spotlight

SfN’s Ongoing Response to Federal Policies 

Check out the latest from SfN and coalition partners, including a statement on HHS Restructuring from the Coalition for Health Funding, as organizations continue to respond to federal administration policies that harm biomedical research.  

SfN News

Test Your Advocacy Knowledge 

Take SfN’s Advocacy Quiz to test your knowledge on commonly used advocacy acronyms, the federal budget, and the appropriations process.   

Urge Congress to Support Neuroscience Research in FY26  

Join fellow NeuroAdvocates in urging Congress to support neuroscience priorities and increase research funding for FY26. Send your representative and senators a message and personalize it by including why robust and reliable federal funding is critical to your research and how recent actions have impacted you and your colleagues. 

Federal News

Senate Confirms NIH Director

The Senate voted 53–47 to confirm Jayanta Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, as NIH director along party lines. In a statement, AAMC committed to working with Dr. Bhattacharya to ensure that NIH and the U.S. remain the global leaders in biomedical research and stands ready to work with him on issues of shared importance.

HHS Begins Restructuring and Reduction in Force 

Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) began its restructuring and reduction of force, which is estimated to include 10,000 employees, including 1,200 NIH employees. Research!America expressed alarm about the impact of mass layoffs and individual firings of key personnel across HHS on medical and public health progress, warning that this will slow progress toward new treatments for patients and weaken our global leadership in science. 

Read: Article on New Neuroscience Grants

The Transmitter recently released an article showcasing that the number of neuroscience-related grants awarded by the NIH has slowed down significantly during the first two months of the second Trump administration. The article includes interviews from SfN's Government and Public Affairs Committee Chair, Diane Lipscombe, PhD, other researchers, and SfN's coalition partners.

• American Brain Coalition: Learn to navigate advocacy opportunities in the 119th Congress in two upcoming webinars. The webinar on Monday, April 14, is for academic, scientific, and clinical interdisciplinary leaders and the webinar on Wednesday, April 16 is for patient advocates.

• 13th Annual Rally for Medical Research Hil Day: Attend the rally Thursday, September 18, to advocate for sustained funding increases for NIH. 

• Learn how to engage your members of Congress and effectively advocate for science with SfN'sAdvocacy Best Practices.