The headlines are becoming more frequent. We’re starting to see the direct impact of funding cuts at universities across the country. Every day, another university is announcing a hiring freeze, rescinding graduate student acceptances, pausing new construction or taking other devastating steps due to NIH and USAID cuts.
A hiring freeze struck our neighbors at N.C. State. And as the 9th-largest research university in the country, Carolina stands to lose more than most.
While researchers and other university officials are already feeling the impact of the cuts, the severity of the situation still hasn’t set in for many of us. Some of the most drastic consequences won’t be felt until years and decades from now. That is when an entire generation of scientists will already be lost, and the discoveries and innovations they would have made will be unfulfilled.
Because this assault on research is entirely unprecedented in this country, it might require a little bit of imagination to see what our future will become if investments from NIH and USAID are stripped away.
For those who have experienced a loved one being diagnosed with a serious illness, you know how it can turn your life upside down, and for many, make finding a cure a lifelong commitment to a cause.
You’re hanging on to the next trial, trying to buy weeks, months and years as new breakthroughs are made – just hoping they’ll be made in time to make a difference for you or the person you love. But what happens when the labs tasked with making each breakthrough go unfunded?
And we all remember the start of the COVID pandemic. Whether or not you knew somebody personally who fell very ill or died from COVID, the fact is that well over 1 million Americans lost their lives to the virus. Many more are continuing to live with the impacts of long COVID and other costs of contracting the illness.
For those of us who got the COVID vaccine, we also remember the day we got our first dose. We remember being able to leave our “bubble” and rejoin the world again without being afraid we’d fall seriously ill or infect someone we love.
The life-changing peace of mind we felt was because researchers spent long hours in university labs around the country, searching tirelessly for a vaccine that would protect us. And because of our country’s strong commitment to science and research funding at that time, we led the way on finding treatments that now protect our citizens and those throughout the world. We can now live our lives and be with our friends and families. For most of us, that fear is a thing of the past.
That is, until the next threat arrives. What we do now will decide if we’re prepared for that future that will inevitably come. We cannot take these discoveries and innovations for granted. They will stop when the research stops. The time is now to sound the alarm bells.
If you haven’t already, please write to and call North Carolina’s Senators and your U.S. Representative to tell them to take action on protecting and restoring funding for NIH and USAID.
U.S. Senator Thom Tillis
113 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-6342
U.S. Senator Ted Budd
304 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-3154
If you live outside of North Carolina and want to contact your home state senators, you can find their info here.
You can find your representative in the U.S. House here. If you already know who your representative is, you can call their office directly or ask to be connected to their office by calling the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. A full list of House member websites can be found here. You can typically find a mailing address at the bottom of a member’s website or on a contact page on their website.
This fight is about more than just protecting Carolina and its funding. It’s about defending the scientific research and discovery that will save lives and make our world a better place for many years to come. We are living in truly unprecedented times. Thank you for joining us to stand on the right side of history.