News
NIH Cuts, Constitutional Crisis, Displacement
ON THE CHARLES RIVER
How National Institutes of Health Investments Lead to Life-Changing Medical Research
What's at stake when lawmakers propose cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget? Explore some of the research that investments in NIH make possible at BU.
FACULTY EXPERT
Is the United States in a Constitutional Crisis?
Yes, says BU Law Professor Jessica Silbey, but it’s up to elected representatives and individual citizens—not the courts—to save democracy.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT
BU’s Initiative on Cities Builds a Tool for Fighting Displacement
The open source tool keeps people in their neighborhoods in Louisville, Ky., by assessing proposed developments.
THOUGHT LEADERS
In Case You Missed It...
BU College of Arts and Sciences Professor Jonathan Mijs helped shape Hulu's political drama, Paradise... BU's Living Our Values Project sponsored a panel discussion on antisemitism featuring Professors Jeremy Menchik and Jonathan Feingold... Jay Zagorsky of the BU Questrom School of Business talks about the volatility of food prices with Marketplace... BU School of Law Professor Aziza Ahmed explains what the confirmation of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. means for abortion access in The Nation.
HHS Personnel; Budget Resolutions; DEI Guidance
BU IN DC
President Emeritus Robert A. Brown spoke at the Summit on Higher Education Finance and the Economy on February 14th.
Director of the Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering Yannis Paschalidis spoke at the National Science Foundation's Inaugural National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot Annual Meeting on February 19th.
TRANSITION UPDATES: DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) made several significant personnel changes:
- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was sworn in as HHS Secretary. The White House subsequently announced that Secretary Kennedy would chair a Make America Healthy Again Commission focused on chronic disease.
- Principal Deputy Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Dr. Lawrence Tabak retired from the NIH after more than two decades in leadership roles, including two years as acting director. Tabak was the agency's second most senior official and previously led the dental institute.
- NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research Dr. Mike Lauer also retired after nearly twenty years with the agency. He led the extramural research office since 2015 and was the NIH's primary liaison with university grantees.
- Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Director Dr. Renee Wegrzyn was removed from her position. Dr. Wegrzyn was the founding director of ARPA-H and had one year remaining in her four-year term.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Senior Advisor and Acting Principal Deputy Director Dr. Nirav Shah announced he would step down from the CDC at the end of February. Shah is the second-ranking official at the agency. He previously led Maine's public health agency.
- HHS agency staff were impacted by the Trump Administration's widespread layoffs of federal employees. News reports indicate that 1,200 NIH employees and 750 CDC employees were told they were being fired.
BUDGET BILLS ADVANCE IN CONGRESS
Lawmakers in the House of Representatives and Senate are advancing separate budget resolutions that set the stage for their plan to extend the 2017 tax cuts enacted during President Donald J. Trump's first term in office. A resolution passed by the House Budget Committee last week asks Congressional committees to find $2 trillion in spending cuts, including $330 billion in education cuts. According to a menu of options released by House Republicans, they are considering reducing nonprofit sector tax benefits, expanding the taxation of university endowments, and reducing spending on graduate medical education. The Senate approved the first of two planned budget bills this week; the second bill is expected to identify how much to cut from federal education and health activities.
BUZZ BITS...
- On Thursday, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions approved Linda McMahon's nomination to lead the U.S. Department of Education on a party line 12-11 vote. The full U.S. Senate is expected to vote on her nomination in the next two weeks.
- Last week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rescinded a Biden Administration memorandum that had recognized student-athletes as employees eligible to collectively bargain. The action restores the NLRB's position under President Trump's first term that student-athletes do not have the legal protections afforded to employees.
- On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education issued a Dear Colleague letter that asserts a broad, new interpretation of civil rights law and says that schools may be investigated for considering race in financial aid, graduation ceremonies, housing, and other aspects of campus life. Given the letter's significant departure from existing law, educational institutions are currently awaiting further clarifying guidance from the Department.
Groundbreaking Journalist Dorothy Gilliam Gives BU a Gift of History
The mother of Boston University’s president, and the first Black woman journalist at the Washington Post, donates her papers to Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center.
Korean Language, Literature, and Culture Is Booming at BU
BU professor: what’s behind the renaissance.
Is the United States in a Constitutional Crisis?
Yes, says BU LAW Professor Jessica Silbey, but it’s up to elected representatives and individual citizens—not the courts—to save democracy.
BU’s Initiative on Cities Builds a Tool for Fighting Displacement
Keeping people in their neighborhoods in Louisville, Ky., by assessing proposed developments.
F&A Costs Cap; McMahon; NSF Grants
BU IN DC
Mary Churchill of the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development attended the American Council on Education Women's Network Leadership Conference on February 13th and 14th.
COURT PAUSES PROPOSED NIH F&A CAP
On Monday evening, a judge temporarily blocked the Trump Administration's proposal to cap facilities and administrative (F&A) cost rates at 15% for new and continuing National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards. On February 21st, a district court will hear arguments in lawsuits filed by 22 state attorneys general, the Association of American Medical Colleges, and the Association of American Universities challenging the proposal. Members of Congress from both parties, including the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, voiced their strong opposition to the change. On Wednesday, Massachusetts Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey urged the leaders of the NIH and the National Science Foundation to rescind the NIH funding cuts and any related freezes.
TRANSITION UPDATES: DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
On Thursday, the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee held a confirmation hearing for Linda McMahon, President Donald J. Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Education. During the hearing, McMahon answered questions about dismantling the agency, vowed to protect Pell Grants, and asserted that colleges failing to address antisemitism would "face defunding." She also confirmed that only Congress can eliminate the Department. The Committee is expected to vote on her nomination next week.
On Tuesday, President Trump nominated Nicholas Kent as the Under Secretary of Education. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Kent will oversee the agency's higher education activities. He was previously the deputy secretary of education in Virginia and a leader in the trade association representing for-profit colleges.
BUZZ BITS...
- On Tuesday, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) released a database of over 3,400 National Science Foundation (NSF) grants that the office identified as "woke DEI" grants. Cruz chairs the Senate Commerce, Science, and Technology Committee, which has jurisdiction over the NSF. The database was the basis for a report he issued in October 2024 criticizing the agency.
- The House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act on a party-line vote on Wednesday. The bill would limit research collaborations with China and other "countries of concern" and require research personnel to report foreign gifts. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a previous version of the DETERRENT Act in 2024, but the bill did not advance in the U.S. Senate.
- The Office of Research hosted a "Federal Outlook for Research Under the New Administration and Congress" webinar in collaboration with Federal Relations on Wednesday. The presentation slides provide insights into the new administration's research priorities and strategies to position your research in the new environment.