SfN Members See Direct Consequences of Government Policy Changes

Recent turmoil in U.S. science policy is more than just headlines — they have direct consequences on scientists and the discoveries they’re pursuing. The neuroscience community has not been spared.

The consequences for individuals have been immediate. “Many of my peers have lost access to grant and travel award opportunities,” said Katherine M. Gonzalez, 2024 SfN Early Career Policy Ambassador (ECPA). At the same time, “It has become more challenging to publish my completed work since it looks at sex differences in decision-making between male and female rats, which by default, includes words that the administration has flagged.”

Labs have been scrambling to adapt.

“Two of our grants were pulled or rejected following changes to DEI funding priorities. Another was removed mid-review without warning, setting us back six months and costing nearly $4 million in potential support,” said India Pursell, 2024 SfN ECPA and neuroscience graduate student in the Brain Institute & Clinical Neuroscience Research Center at Tulane University, Louisiana. “We’ve had to slow progress, stretch limited resources, and delay hiring. It’s created an environment of instability and stress for everyone involved.”

“My lab stands to potentially lose over $1,000,000 in grant funding to study addiction and future treatments,” shared Ethan Anderson, SfN advocacy partner with the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and assistant professor in the Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences at Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Veterinary Medicine. “Most of this money will go to directly fund the science we are doing right here in Baton Rouge.”

In addition to grant funding suddenly being thrown in limbo, the Trump administration is fighting to impose a 15% cap on facilities and administrative (F&A, also known as indirect) costs.

“Placing an overly simplistic proposed cap of 15% on F&A costs is like burning down the house to get a few possible rats out,” stated Robert Greene, member of the SfN Government and Public Affairs committee and professor of neuroscience and psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. “Rather than reducing waste, it will cause waste with dire consequences.”

Consequences will extend beyond scientists and their labs as research-heavy campuses are being forced to react to these potentially massive reductions in federal funding.

“The recent proposed NIH changes to indirect cuts have led to a hiring freeze here at LSU as we assess the potential damage to our school. I will not be able to admit graduate students into my lab either,” said Anderson.

Gonzalez can easily see the connection between research-supporting grant funding and her neighbors. “I live in a college town. Everything revolves around the university and most of the community directly works for or are contracted by it. These cuts will cause many people to lose their jobs… custodians, administrators, clinical research coordinators, building maintenance. It has a domino effect.” Where the dominos stop remains to be seen.

SfN has been engaging with policymakers in Congress and the executive branch to push back on these uncertainty-inducing changes in science policy. Learn about these actions, and what you can do in solidarity with the neuroscience community.