8/15/25: Scientists: mRNA Vaccine Research Cuts Undermine U.S. Innovation (Inside Higher Ed) Scientists say HHS’s decision to stop investing in mRNA vaccine research is another sign of the growing politicization of research, which will stymie the country’s medical breakthroughs. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/science-research-policy/2025/08/15/scientists-mrna-vaccine-research-cuts-blow
8/14/25: FAIR’ Model Aims to Preserve Federal Research Funding (The Assembly) While court orders have paused the changes , the Trump administration’s proposal ignited debate about the current model.
Enter the Joint Associations Group (JAG), which formed in April to devise a new reimbursement method. The coalition of 10 national higher education groups delivered its proposal to Congress and the White House in July. The plan, named FAIR for “Financial Accountability in Research,” would replace the flat-percentage rate with a system that accounts for the varied costs institutions incur for different kinds of research, considering factors like equipment and technology needs and government-mandated compliance requirements. https://www.theassemblync.com/education/higher-education/fair-model-aims-to-preserve-federal-research-funding/
8/14/25: Beyond lab animals (Science) Animal welfare concerns, shared by a rising fraction of the public, are not the only motivation. FDA said NAMs could accelerate drug evaluation and, eventually, lower research costs. EPA cited a need for better and more cost-effective ways to evaluate new chemicals. And although President Donald Trump’s administration has ignored scientific consensus in many areas, particularly vaccination policy and climate change, many in the scientific community call the move to NAMs a good idea, at least if the technologies are used to complement rather than replace animal studies. “I don’t see this as antiscientific or superradical,”
says Megan LaFollette, executive director at the 3Rs Collaborative, a nonprofit that works with academic and industry researchers to reduce animal testing. https://www.science.org/content/article/u-s-wants-phase-out-animal-research-are-alternatives-ready
8/14/25: NIH Will Stop Posting Notices of Funding Opportunities in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts in FY2026 (NOT-OD-25-143) This Notice informs the extramural community that, beginning in fiscal year 2026, NIH will no longer post NOFOs in the NIH Guide. Grants.gov will serve as NIH’s single official source for grant and cooperative agreement funding opportunities. The NIH Guide will continue to be used for policy and informational notices. https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-25-143.html
8/14/25: U.S. scientists are seeing their research upended (Washington Post, Opinion) The reality is more troubling than headlines might suggest. Since the start of the second Trump administration, I have heard from colleagues in the medical research community about their experiences. Many are afraid to speak openly but want the public to understand the effects of these policy decisions on the future of science. I am sharing some of their stories here, while respecting their wishes to omit details that would identify them. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/08/14/scientists-cuts-grants-trump-research/
8/14/25: Scientists’ role in defending democracy (Science, Editorial) The United States’ democratic leadership, commitment to freedom of expression, and investment in the pursuit of knowledge have long enabled its preeminence in science and technology. Yet today we are witnessing what happens to a nation’s science and technology enterprise when democratic principles and the rule of law are ignored. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aea9328
8/14/25: OSTP Principal Deputy Director Lynne Parker Announces Retirement (ExecutiveGov) Lynne Parker will step down as principal deputy director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, or OSTP. Parker announced her retirement on LinkedIn Tuesday. https://www.executivegov.com/articles/lynne-parker-ostp-deputy-director-retirement
8/14/25: U.S. warning on use of ‘march-in’ rights against Harvard seems like distant threat for pharma (STAT) Lutnick signaled that the department would begin a “comprehensive” review of Harvard’s compliance with the law and, notably, initiate a “march-in” process, which allows the government to grant a third-party license to federally funded patents or take title and then grant licenses itself. His remark gained notice because the U.S. government has never taken this step before. https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2025/08/14/trump-harvard-commerce-lutnick-patents-university-bayh-dole-invention-biden/
8/14/25: Bayh-Dole Compliance Under Scrutiny: HHS Adopts Aggressive Enforcement Stance (JD Supra) The Trump administration recently announced that it will begin investigating compliance with the Bayh-Dole Act, signaling it may invoke march-in rights or more dramatic request for title of patents relating to inventions developed under federal funding. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/bayh-dole-compliance-under-scrutiny-hhs-8829787/
8/14/25: Department of Commerce Initiates Bayh-Dole Compliance Review and Asserts March-In Proceeding Targeting Harvard University Patents (Wilson Sonsini) While the Department of Commerce’s actions are currently limited to Harvard, licensees or those having title to patents subject to Bayh-Dole should proactively review Bayh-Dole compliance across patent portfolios to mitigate risks. https://www.wsgr.com/en/insights/department-of-commerce-initiates-bayh-dole-compliance-review-and-asserts-march-in-proceeding-targeting-harvard-university-patents.html
8/14/25: How States Could Throw University Science a Lifeline (The Atlantic) Whatever halfway measures Congress or the courts may take to stop President Donald Trump’s assault on universities, they will not change the fact that a profound agreement has been broken: Since World War II, the U.S. government has funded basic research at universities, with the understanding that the discoveries and innovations that result would benefit the U.S. economy and military, as well as the health of the nation’s citizens. But under President Trump—who has already targeted more than $3 billion in research funding for termination and hopes to cut much more, while at the same time increasing the tax on endowments and threatening the ability of universities to enroll international students —the federal government has become an unreliable and brutally coercive partner. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/08/state-funding-federal-research-cuts/683842/
8/13/25: Harvard and the Trump administration are nearing a settlement including a $500 million payment (AP) Harvard University and the Trump administration are getting close to an agreement that would require the Ivy League university to pay $500 million to regain access to federal funding and to end investigations, according to a person familiar with the matter. https://apnews.com/article/harvard-trump-agreement-antisemitism-ivy-a84b88a8136a852aa305e508d012afb6
8/12/25: Gender Data Would Be Off-Limits Under Proposed NIH Policy (The Chronicle) The National Institutes of Health is moving to prohibit scientists from collecting data about gender, according to a draft policy obtained by The Chronicle, as part of President Trump’s order to end federal recognition of transgender people and others who identify as a gender that doesn’t align with their sex assigned at birth. https://www.chronicle.com/article/gender-data-would-be-off-limits-under-proposed-nih-policy
8/12/25: DOGE’s AI Plan to Kill 100,000 Rules Has a Bark Bigger Than Bite (Bloomberg Law) Artificial intelligence models aren’t yet sophisticated enough to implement a Trump administration plan to repeal as many as 100,000 government regulations, according to current and former government officials and scholars who study the intersection of law and AI. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/pharma-and-life-sciences/doges-ai-plan-to-kill-100-000-rules-has-a-bark-bigger-than-bite?source=newsletter&item=read-text®ion=digest&login=blaw&channel=pharma-and-life-sciences&access-ticket=eyJpZCI6IjAwMDAwMTk4LTgxM2QtZGRjNi1hNWRlLWI3N2Q1NzE3MDAwMSIsImN0eHQiOiJIUE5XIiwidXVpZCI6InFGeFZpbUNqNWFMQVA2bDJrR1gwS0E9PVVCWXVXWlZxRzNwSlV5UHl4bVdzYVE9PSIsInRpbWUiOiIxNzU1MDgyMzAyOTMzIiwic2lnIjoiSTZmQ2VaQkNiWVFFc1V0Y0srdk9FNVVoaUZBPSIsInYiOiIxIn0%3D
8/11/25: Executive Branch Oversight of Federal Grantmaking: A New Era? (Arnold & Porter) This Advisory summarizes the EO’s key provisions, analyzes its departure from past federal grant practices, and outlines some strategic considerations for grant applicants and recipients. https://www.arnoldporter.com/en/perspectives/advisories/2025/08/executive-branch-oversight-of-federal-grantmaking
