NIH staff release report on “continuing harms” to research enterprise

On the one‑year anniversary of the Bethesda Declaration, current and former NIH staff have released an updated assessment documenting how “the chaos of 2025 has been replaced with coordinated, systematic, institutionalized destruction in 2026,” providing detailed descriptions of the Administrations’ activities and impacts. The original June 2025 declaration—an open letter from NIH scientists—raised concerns about the politicization of research, grant cancellations, and disruptions to peer review and scientific collaboration. The new report cites ongoing challenges including loss of expertise, increased political influence in decision‑making, funding instability, and declining staff morale. In the post, the authors cite specific examples of statutes that they claim are not being followed and examples of behavior that is politicizing scientific decisions. Additional reporting points to substantial staff reductions and unfilled leadership positions, raising broader concerns about the resilience of the U.S. biomedical research enterprise.

Resources: Coverage of one‑year update | Background on the original declaration