Boston Globe, June 2026
One year after hundreds of National Institutes of Health employees publicly accused the Trump administration of politicizing biomedical research in what they called the “Bethesda Declaration,” staff members on Tuesday issued a new warning that conditions have only worsened. The group cited political interference in grant-making, loss of staffing, and policy changes that local researchers say are affecting Massachusetts universities and the state’s economy. The NIH is the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research, and Massachusetts receives the largest share per capita of that funding, about $478 for each resident in 2025.
The new 38-page report, dubbed “Bethesda Declaration: One Year Later,” lays out nine ways in which they say current NIH policies are hindering the agency’s work, including: slowing medical research, worsening health inequities, weakening ethical safeguards, undermining public trust, driving away experienced staff, sidelining employee input, creating administrative hurdles, disrupting international collaborations, and contributing to low morale within the agency. It was authored by 71 current and former staff members, 35 of whom were anonymous.
