I was born and raised in Iola and remember first learning about science at Lincoln Elementary.
I also learned about food and animal sciences through my local 4-H club, but never really thought that I could “be a scientist” one day.
I went on to learn about psychology, biology, and neuroscience at Allen Community College and the University of Kansas, and I developed a passion for scientific research.
While I always appreciated the importance of medical professionals who were helping treat my loved ones with neurological diseases, it was not until college that I started to understand the role of PhD scientists who were working behind the scenes to learn more about the function of the nervous system in health and disease to help advance the field of medicine.
I am now a neuroscience professor with my own research lab at the University of Vermont, and I love that my job allows me to discover new information about how the nervous system works while collaborating with scientists from around the world.
The United States has been a longstanding global leader in biomedical research, but this reputation is now at risk due to recent unilateral decisions from the Trump administration.
Active research grants and clinical trials have been canceled, budgets for future research have been slashed, and thousands of federal employees working in this sector have lost their jobs.
Even though these actions are continually being challenged in the courts, the scientific community, patients, and the economy are already feeling the negative effects of these drastic changes.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) are two of the largest federal agencies that fund scientific research in the United States. Federal research grants support the costs of research, but they also support research infrastructure and the training of our next generation of scientists and medical professionals.
My PhD training was supported by the NSF and my lab is currently funded by an NSF grant. I am anxiously waiting to hear back about the unknown status of an NIH grant.
I clearly have many reasons to be concerned about the recent threats to scientific funding, but I hope to convey that these decisions will impact all American communities, including Iola.
For every $1 in NIH funding that is allotted for research, $2.50 is generated in direct economic activity and NIH funding in Kansas generates around 2000 jobs.
Over 99% of recently developed medical treatments were funded by the NIH, as was the research for mRNA vaccines which allowed us to return to normal life after the COVID-19 pandemic.
NIH funding also supported research into a curious lizard’s venom which ultimately led to the development of drugs like Ozempic.
NSF funding continually supports research into food and agricultural challenges, including ways to safely reduce pests. Technology used in cell phones and MRI machines also came from NSF-funded research.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) supports scientific research that aims to better predict flood zones, which is particularly important for Allen County.
