TARGETING SCIENCE“The Bethesda Declaration”: Sounding the Alarm on the Growing Chaos at NIH

More than 300 officials and scientists from all of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) 27 institutes and centers, have signed and sent a letter – titled “The Bethesda Declaration” (the NIH is located in Bethesda, Maryland) — to Jay Bhattacharya, the Trump-nominated director of NIH. The letter harshly criticizes the sweeping changes which have plunged the agency into chaos. It urges the director to reverse some of the most damaging shifts, which threaten to further debilitate the agency.

Since January, the NIH has been forced by Trump officials to fire thousands of its employees and rescind or suspend funding from thousands of research projects. Yesterday, Bhattacharya appeared before a Senate appropriations subcommittee to defend a proposed $18 billion cut to the NIH budget—which is about 40 percent of the agency’s current allocation.

Here is The Bethesda Declaration

The Bethesda Declaration: A Call for NIH and HHS Leadership to Deliver on Promises of Academic Freedom and Scientific Excellence

Dear Dr. Bhattacharya,

For staff across the National Institutes of Health (NIH), we dissent to Administration policies that undermine the NIH mission, waste public resources, and harm the health of Americans and people across the globe. Keeping NIH at the forefront of biomedical research requires our stalwart commitment to continuous improvement. But the life-and-death nature of our work demands that changes be thoughtful and vetted. We are compelled to speak up when our leadership prioritizes political momentum over human safety and faithful stewardship of public resources.

Many have raised these concerns to NIH leadership, yet we remain pressured to implement harmful measures. Today, we come directly to you. We include Secretary Kennedy and members of Congress who oversee NIH. We look forward to working with you and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) leadership to maintain NIH as the world leader of biomedical research.

Our Shared Commitment to Academic Freedom
Academic freedom is a core scientific principle, and we deeply appreciate your public commitment to it at your confirmation hearing, in your April 24 statement on academic freedom, and in recent media interviews. You said: “I will establish a culture of respect for free speech in science and scientific dissent at the NIH,” “Dissent is the very essence of science,” and “…dissenting voices need to be heard and allowed.”