America’s scientific leadership faces unprecedented threats
And yet now the very system that has powered decades of world-changing scientific discovery, here at UC and in thousands of academic and government labs across the country, is at risk.
Throughout 2025, the federal government has canceled or delayed thousands of research grants to hundreds of U.S. universities. While funding for many of UC’s projects has been restored, the interruptions and uncertainty have plagued research that is poised to deliver vital new knowledge, including studies of aging, addiction, obesity, maternal and fetal health and Alzheimer’s disease. And the federal government is considering further cuts to science funding in its budget for the coming year. This year, the Trump administration sent a budget request to Congress calling for deep cuts to federal science agencies — in some cases by up to half.
“This is going to cripple science, and it is going to be disastrous if this continues,” said Clarke in an interview this week. Regardless of what Congress decides about the coming year’s budget, the disruptions that government and academic labs have already experienced will reverberate for a long time. “It may take a decade to get back to where we were, say, half a year ago,” he said.
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