The Trump administration is recklessly cutting funding for scientific research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF). From NIH alone, Maine stands to lose $25 million this year, which will devastate research infrastructure at universities and hospitals. In addition to slowing or stopping life-saving biomedical research, these cuts will also kill the economic engine that research provides; for every dollar invested in research, $2.46 is returned in economic activity.

I am concerned about these losses in Maine because I grew up in Waterville. I graduated from Waterville Senior High School and thanks to my amazing science teachers (Mrs. Veilleux in biology and Mrs. Smith in chemistry) went on to study biology in college and earn a Ph.D. in genetics. I now work in an NIH-funded lab at Rutgers University in New Jersey, where we use the model organism C. elegans (a tiny worm) to study human diseases, including genetic kidney diseases and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. Our research has the potential to inform future treatments for these conditions.

Once I complete my postdoctoral training at Rutgers, it is my dream to return to Maine and start a research lab that will work toward improving the health of all Mainers and all Americans. None of this will be possible without NIH and NSF. Let’s speak to elected representatives and stand up for science in Maine.

Katherine Jacobs

Kendall Park, New Jersey