Our Health Depends on Federal Research Funding.

Funding Impacts

Our Health Depends on Federal Research Funding

SPH research informs health policies and programs, generates practical solutions to public health issues, and empowers individuals to make evidence-based decisions about their health. Federal funding propels this work.

In the articles and videos below, SPH researchers call attention to the immediate and long-term effects of the federal government’s decision to curtail this funding, as the consequences continue to unfold.

What the Framingham Heart Study Has Taught us About Heart Disease
Carla Irizarry-Delgado shares five examples of federally funded research projects at SPH and some ways they’ve changed real lives.
SPH Faculty Brief Massachusetts Legislators on State’s Public Health Priorities

As federal research funding cuts decimate the US scientific enterprise, the dissolution of the longstanding partnership between the federal government and research institutions will jeopardize real lives across the globe for generations to come.

Madeleine Scammell discusses her research and the lesser known reasons why NIH funding is so vital to science
Carlos Rodriguez-Diaz reflexiona sobre el impacto que estos recortes podrían tener en la investigación y en la atención médica del futuro
Jonathan Levy discusses why we shouldn’t ONLY rely on private funding for research

Devastating Outcomes

Since January 20, 2025, the slashing of research funding, local public health funding, and US foreign aid have severely disrupted the lives of populations at home and abroad who rely on this funding for disease screening and treatment, as well as nutrition assistance and other vital public health services.

Carlos Rodriguez-Diaz discusses the consequences that these cuts would bring, domestically and internationally
I wanted to know the true cost of all of these actions. It’s human lives. This is not for political gain, this is about the lives of actual mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and kids
BROOKE NICHOLS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF GLOBAL HEALTH

Media Coverage

Boston Globe

Families, Physicians Fear What Medicaid Cuts Could Mean for Children in Massachusetts
Quotes Megan Cole, associate professor of health law, policy & management.

Boston Globe

RFK Jr. And Trump Are Torpedoing Alzheimer’s Research
Article written by Katherine O’Malley, policy analyst in health law, policy & management. 

San Francisco Chronicle

Vaccine Skepticism Takes Root in Republican Party Led by Donald Trump
Quotes Matthew Motta, assistant professor of health law, policy & management.

Boston Globe

COVID-19 Put the Spotlight on the Region’s Health Equity Leaders. Five Years Later, They Are Targets
Mentions research by Jonathan Levy, chair and professor of environmental health.

Bloomberg Law

Kennedy’s Health Cuts Seen as Taking Toll on Services, Oversight
Quotes Nicole Huberfeld, professor of health law, policy & management.

Boston Globe

New England to Lose More than $100 Million in Federal Funding for State Health Programs
Quotes Harold Cox, professor of the practice in community health sciences.

Loss of Vital Data and Services

“What gets measured, gets managed”: Data is essential for efficiency, as this well-known phrase suggests. But as a result of the presidential administration’s actions, decades-old, critical health datasets and services are vanishing.

BUSPH has developed, www.FindLostData.org, a platform for locating datasets previously hosted on government websites
I Was Fired From the CDC: What Does It Mean For You?
A BUSPH alum shares her story
What’s at risk if the government goes through with cutting funding for Medicaid? And who is at risk of losing coverage?
Could government be more efficient if they focused on funding the programs that have proven to give more than they take?

The articles and viewpoints below capture the real-world and far-reaching human impact of the cuts to federal research funding, including stark increases in illnesses and mortality rates, widening gaps in access to affordable healthcare, and more.

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