Philly scientists rally against Trump’s cuts to research funding
Organizers said they were encouraged by the high turnout Friday and hopeful that the rally could be a jumping-off point for continued advocacy for scientific research in the area.
Scientists and their supporters from around Philadelphia crowded outside City Hall Friday to decry President Donald Trump’s proposed cuts to research funding and attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion policies at a rally organized in coordination with dozens of other events around the country.
Organizers of Philadelphia’s Stand Up For Science rally estimated attendance at around 1,000. Philadelphia-area researchers and physicians spoke to the crowd about the impact of Trump’s early presidency, which has taken aim at federal funding it sees as wasteful and DEI programs that it considers discriminatory.
Scientists have countered that the administration is jeopardizing crucial research and undermining efforts to diversify the field and improve health outcomes for marginalized people.
Melina Blees, who heads BioLabs Philadelphia, a Center City incubator for biotechnology companies, said she was concerned about how Trump’s policies are affecting companies who depend on research funding. And she carried a sign reading: “Cutting-edge cancer research is keeping my mom alive.”
Her mother, who has metastatic cancer, is currently taking an FDA-approved treatment.
“We don’t know how long she’ll respond to it, and she’s going to need the next thing that’s going to be coming out of trials. If we can’t rely on science to keep moving forward, she, like many other patients, is going to be at risk,” Blees said.
The administration has attempted to cut scientific research funding, frozen communications at federal health agencies, and pulled data from those agencies’ webpages. It also has postponed or canceled meetings on vaccines at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.
Some speakers at the rally said that grants they rely on to conduct research have been paused or delayed amid widespread uncertainty over potential funding cuts.
Monserrat Anguera, a University of Pennsylvania scientist who studies autoimmune disorders, said two meetings to review NIH grants that fund her lab have been canceled without rescheduling, leaving that funding in limbo.
Likewise, Eartha Mae Guthman, a Princeton University neuroscientist, said she is worried about the future of an NIH grant that she had recently received to launch her own lab studying improvements in hormone therapies.
Guthman, who is transgender, said the Trump administration’s targeting of transgender Americans puts that goal in jeopardy. The administration has said it will only recognize “two sexes, male and female,” contrary to established scientific understanding.
STAT News reported Friday that the NIH had “abruptly” canceled millions in NIH grants, in an apparent violation of a court order, including grants supporting research on DEI-related issues and transgender health.
“I don’t know how or if I’ll get paid next month, and I don’t know if I’ll actually get the funds that Congress has already awarded to me to start my own lab,” Guthman said. “My dream grows less likely by the day because of Republican efforts to reverse decades of acceptance for various minorities.”
Organizers said they were encouraged by the high turnout Friday and hopeful that the rally could be a jumping-off point for continued local advocacy for scientific research.
“I see this as hopefully mobilizing a lot of folks who are invested in science and maybe haven’t been part of organizing before. This can hopefully be the thing that pulls them in,” said Brooke DiLeone, who works at a local public health nonprofit and helped to organize the rally in Philadelphia.
Aude Ikuzwe, a Penn Ph.D. student in her third year, said the early days of the Trump administration have been “scary on all sides.” His efforts to cut scientific research funding make her nervous about completing her Ph.D., and his threats of mass deportations concern her as an immigrant from Rwanda.
Attending the rally left her buoyed and already making plans to spread the word about future advocacy.
“It was surreal to see that many people actually showed up today,” she said. “And it makes me hopeful that there is a change coming.”