Scientists Say Research Could Be Set Back Years After Funding Freeze

Introduction to the Crisis

Harvard University professor Alberto Ascherio’s research is literally frozen. Collected from millions of U.S. soldiers over two decades using millions of dollars from taxpayers, the epidemiology and nutrition scientist has blood samples stored in liquid nitrogen freezers within the university’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The samples are key to his award-winning research, which seeks a cure to multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases. But for months, Ascherio has been unable to work with the samples because he lost $7 million in federal research funding, a casualty of Harvard’s fight with the Trump administration.

Researchers Laid Off and Science Shelved

The loss of an estimated $2.6 billion in federal funding at Harvard has meant that some of the world’s most prominent researchers are laying off young researchers. They are shelving years or even decades of research, into everything from opioid addiction to cancer. And despite Harvard’s lawsuits against the administration, and settlement talks between the warring parties, researchers are confronting the fact that some of their work may never resume. The funding cuts are part of a monthslong battle that the Trump administration has waged against some the country’s top universities including Columbia, Brown and Northwestern. The administration has taken a particularly aggressive stance against Harvard, freezing funding after the country’s oldest university rejected a series of government demands issued by a federal antisemitism task force.

Blood Samples and Research

Blood samples used by Harvard University professor Alberto Ascherio to study the cause of neurodegenerative diseases are stored in a freezer at the university’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025 in Boston. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)

Research Jeopardized, Even if Court Case Prevails

Harvard responded by filing a federal lawsuit, accusing the Trump administration of waging a retaliation campaign against the university. In the lawsuit, it laid out reforms it had taken to address antisemitism but also vowed not to “surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.” The Trump administration denies the cuts were made in retaliation, saying the grants were under review even before the demands were sent in April. It argues the government has wide discretion to cancel federal contracts for policy reasons. The funding cuts have left Harvard’s research community in a state of shock, feeling as if they are being unfairly targeted in a fight has nothing to do with them. Some have been forced to shutter labs or scramble to find nongovernment funding to replace lost money.

University Response

In May, Harvard announced that it would put up at least $250 million of its own money to continue research efforts, but university President Alan Garber warned of “difficult decisions and sacrifices” ahead. Ascherio said the university was able to pull together funding to pay his researchers’ salaries until next June. But he’s still been left without resources needed to fund critical research tasks, like lab work. Even a year’s delay can put his research back five years, he said.

Knowledge Lost in Funding Freeze

“It’s really devastating,” agreed Rita Hamad, the director of the Social Policies for Health Equity Research Center at Harvard, who had three multiyear grants totaling $10 million canceled by the Trump administration. The grants funded research into the impact of school segregation on heart health, how pandemic-era policies in over 250 counties affected mental health, and the role of neighborhood factors in dementia. At the School of Public Health, where Hamad is based, 190 grants have been terminated, affecting roughly 130 scientists. “Just thinking about all the knowledge that’s not going to be gained or that is going to be actively lost,” Hamad said. She expects significant layoffs on her team if the funding freeze continues for a few more months. “It’s all just a mixture of frustration and anger and sadness all the time, every day.”

Impact on Researchers

John Quackenbush, a professor of computational biology and bioinformatics at the School of Public Health, has spent the past few months enduring cuts on multiple fronts. In April, a multimillion dollar grant was not renewed, jeopardizing a study into the role sex plays in disease. In May, he lost about $1.2 million in federal funding for in the coming year due to the Harvard freeze. Four departmental grants worth $24 million that funded training of doctoral students also were canceled as part of the fight with the Trump administration, Quackenbush said. “I’m in a position where I have to really think about, ‘Can I revive this research?’” he said. “Can I restart these programs even if Harvard and the Trump administration reached some kind of settlement? If they do reach a settlement, how quickly can the funding be turned back on? Can it be turned back on?”

White House Pressure a Good Thing?

Bertha Madras, a Harvard psychobiologist who lost funding to create a free, parent-focused training to prevent teen opioid overdose and drug use, said she’s happy to see the culling of what she called “politically motivated social science studies.” Madras said pressure from the White House has catalyzed much-needed reform at the university, where several programs of study have “really gone off the wall in terms of being shaped by orthodoxy that is not representative of the country as a whole.” But Madras, who served on the President’s Commission on Opioids during Trump’s first term, said holding scientists’ research funding hostage as a bargaining chip doesn’t make sense. “I don’t know if reform would have happened without the president of the United States pointing the bony finger at Harvard,” she said. “But sacrificing science is problematic, and it’s very worrisome because it is one of the major pillars of strength of the country.”

Conclusion

The funding cuts have significant implications for the future of scientific research in the United States. Researchers argue that the cuts are part of a larger attack on science by the Trump administration that puts the country’s reputation as the global research leader at risk. Support for students and post-doctoral fellows has been slashed, visas for foreign scholars threatened, and new guidelines and funding cuts at the NIH will make it much more difficult to get federal funding in the future. It also will be difficult to replace federal funding with money from the private sector. As the research community continues to feel the effects of the funding freeze, it remains to be seen how the situation will be resolved and what the long-term consequences will be for scientific research in the United States.

FAQs

Q: What is the reason for the funding freeze at Harvard University?
A: The funding freeze is a result of a battle between Harvard University and the Trump administration, which has taken a particularly aggressive stance against the university after it rejected a series of government demands related to antisemitism.
Q: How much funding has been lost by Harvard University?
A: Harvard University has lost an estimated $2.6 billion in federal funding.
Q: What kind of research is being affected by the funding freeze?
A: The funding freeze is affecting research in various fields, including medicine, science, technology, and social sciences.
Q: How are researchers being impacted by the funding freeze?
A: Researchers are being forced to lay off young researchers, shelve years or even decades of research, and scramble to find nongovernment funding to replace lost money.
Q: What is the potential long-term impact of the funding freeze on scientific research in the United States?
A: The funding freeze could have significant implications for the future of scientific research in the United States, including a loss of knowledge, a decline in the country’s reputation as a global research leader, and difficulties in replacing federal funding with money from the private sector.