The Chaos of NIH Cuts Has Left Early-Career Scientists Scrambling

Nada Fadul’s love for science and medicine began early. As a child, the aspiring physician-scientist had observed her father, a doctor, treat patients at his primary care office. Later, as an undergraduate student at the University of Maryland, Fadul had the opportunity to work in a lab developing nanotherapies for ovarian cancer. Through these experiences and a strong cadre of mentors, she “felt really inspired to pursue both research and medicine,” she says. To gain more lab experience before applying to joint MD-PhD programs, Fadul had decided to apply to the National Institutes of Health’s postbaccalaureate program, which offers full-time research positions to recent college graduates considering careers in medicine or STEM. But in early February, she received an email stating that the program had been completely paused. “There’s always some changes when the administration changes, but I didn’t expect the changes to hit so close to home and to affect my hopes and plans for the upc ... Read full article.