June 10, 2025
Boston Globe recently published an article referencing research conducted by Mark Williams, Master Lecturer of Finance.
President Trump’s proposed 40% cut to the NIH budget, reducing funding to $27.5B and consolidating 19 institutes into 8, has sparked intense concern, especially in Massachusetts, which receives the most NIH funding per capita.
The cuts, paired with caps on university overheads and grant terminations targeting DEI and LGBTQ+ research, have led over 300 NIH staff to protest what they describe as a politicization of science. So far, Massachusetts has lost $2.4B in NIH funding, including $2.2B at Harvard, part of a broader $8.7B in national cuts.
Williams noted the stakes are especially high in Massachusetts, where “eds and meds” account for 20% of the state’s GDP. He and others warn the cuts would cripple research, hinder innovation, and make the U.S. “sicker, weaker, and less competitive.”
Experts fear the cuts will devastate U.S. scientific competitiveness, stifle innovation, and halt progress on diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s, and ALS.
