April 2025
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.
Across the Field
- 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.
Featured SfN Advocacy Resource
- Learn how to engage your members of Congress and effectively advocate for science with SfN'sAdvocacy Best Practices.
