Statement from AAUP president Todd Wolfson on National Institutes of Health freeze

Earlier this week, President Trump’s administration hit the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with a debilitating freeze to hiring, travel, meetings, and communication. This freeze includes reviewing and approving critical biomedical research on cancer treatment, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and other public health concerns.

This freeze will hurt all people who are dependent on NIH’s groundbreaking research in red states and in blue. It is the largest biomedical research organization in the world; thousands of people learn, teach, and work at institutions funded by NIH and other federal grants. Disruption of this funding system will lead to even deeper crises on our campuses that carry out critical research—from Houston to Atlanta, from Pittsburgh to Phoenix. In the coming days, the AAUP will be working with our members in all fifty states and joining together with students and other campus workers as well as the communities we serve to fight this freeze and any further attacks on health care, higher education, science, and the public good.