[From the Archives] What the Trump Administration's War on Harvard (and other Universities) Means for Average Americans

 {From my Blogger posts. All of this is still true. It details the impact of the assault on Harvard on medical research.]

There are lots of reasons to be very concerned by the Trump Administration's war on Harvard and other elite universities.  If nothing else, it is disturbing the the Trump Administrations wants to use federal power to force governance changes and curriculum changes on the universities.  Yes, antisemitism is a problem, but Harvard already took significant steps to address this issue and the requested changes have nothing to do with antisemitism.

But for average Americans, the huge cuts in federal grants to Harvard, Columbia, Stanford,. and other universities will have a real and tangible impact on their lives and health.  Almost none of the federal grant cuts at Harvard affect Harvard's humanities and social science programs.  Indeed, almost none of the cuts even affect Harvard College itself.  Instead, the bulk of the cuts are to the Harvard Medical School and its affiliated hospitals.

As the Harvard Crimson reported:

Five independent Boston hospitals affiliated with Harvard Medical School — Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center — collectively received more than $1.56 billion in National Institutes of Health funding in fiscal year 2024.
. . .

While the alleged violations are largely related to Harvard College and the University’s Cambridge campus, the consequences could fall mostly on the hospitals.

The Crimson analyzed the proposed Trump administration funding cuts and estimated that the five hospitals’ multi-year commitment from the NIH is over $6.2 billion and the University’s multi-year federal research funding exceeds $2.7 billion.

The combined figure nears the $9 billion cited by federal officials, but it remains unclear if the funding review is limited to these select grants.

 As we get more details on what specific federal grants have been cut, it is becoming increasingly clear that they are for medical research on illnesses that tragically affect all Americans.  For example, research on ALS has been suspended.  In addition, very promising research on tuberculosis (including animal trials a vaccine) and research on mitigating the side effects of radiation therapy have been cut.  

And Harvard is not a slouch when it comes to doing important medical research.  As Nicholas Kristof notes   "The university has 162 Nobel Prize winners, and scientists there are working on cancer immunotherapy, brain tumors, organ transplants, diabetes and more. It was a Harvard researcher who discovered the molecule that is the basis for the GLP-1 weight-loss medications that have revolutionized obesity care."

And these are just a few examples.  Harvard has a website listing all of the research at risk, and the list includes research on cancer, heart disease, neurodegenerative diseases, obesity and diabetes, infectious diseases and organs and transplantation.  

So while many MAGA types are applauding this latest Trump initiative to "own the libs", they ignore they real long term victims of  the attacks on universities--it is not merely university professors and students, but also includes all of facing diseases such as caner, tuberculosis and ALS.

My other relevant posts.

Our Vichy Moment, Part 2: Harvard Will Not Collaborate

Our Vichy Moment: Time to Stop Collaborating

Trump Is Apparently Pro-Parkinson's and Pro-Infectious Disease

How the Trump Administration is Endangering Medical Research and Innovation