To the Editor:
Re “Deep Cuts to Medical Research Funds Could Hobble University Budgets” (news article, Feb. 9):
I have watched President Trump issue a flurry of executive orders with growing alarm, but none have hit quite as hard as his reckless decision to slash National Institutes of Health funding. Although a court temporarily blocked the cuts, I fear that the work of N.I.H. and university researchers is still in peril. The American people will suffer if lifesaving research and clinical trials are no longer available.
Our family knows the value of this important work firsthand. My husband was part of multiple clinical trials at the N.I.H. to treat his prostate cancer. The team provided different treatments as needed, and they worked. He is now cancer-free, and we credit the N.I.H. for saving his life.
I worry that in this climate, another family would not be as fortunate. Does the Trump administration realize that their actions affect individual lives, not just institutions? More important, do they even care?
Marilyn Fenichel
Hamden, Conn.
To the Editor:
I am not a scientific person. Nor am I highly political. But one thing I know as a breast cancer survivor is that my life and the lives of millions of other cancer survivors have been made possible through biomedical research funded by the National Institutes of Health.
I was able to benefit from decades of N.I.H.-funded research so that my aggressive cancer didn’t stop me from regaining my health and living my best life with my husband and two young children. Putting a freeze on N.I.H. funding could suddenly halt projects that have the potential to cure or alleviate suffering from terrible diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s or A.L.S.
Biomedical research funded by the N.I.H. is the envy of the world. It has an impact on every one of us who calls the United States home. Research advances don’t know your political party, your religion or wealth. Research has the potential to cross all lines and tie us together as humans, improving life for all of us.
Americans understand team efforts, and this is an important one. Our research institutions also need federal support to cover the indirect costs of this vital work that is undertaken for the good of each and every American. I urge the Trump administration to unfreeze N.I.H. funding so that America can live up to its potential, for the sake of us all.
Lorrie Flom
Pittsburgh
To the Editor:
The Trump administration’s plan to restrict funding of “indirect costs” — for upkeep and administration of laboratories and other crucial functions — on N.I.H. grants will decimate biomedical research at universities throughout the country, including in “red” states and at “nonelite” institutions. Although the system as it has evolved is not ideal, indirect costs provide the funds to sustain necessary infrastructure.
Contrary to what has been suggested, these funds are not used to promote a D.E.I. agenda or “liberal” causes. Without sufficient and predictable funding from the N.I.H., biomedical research and American competitiveness will suffer a near-fatal blow. The effects will last generations.
Stuart H. Orkin
Brookline, Mass.
The writer is a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
To the Editor:
“How Trump’s Medical Research Cuts Would Hit Colleges and Hospitals in Every State,” (The Upshot, nytimes.com, Feb. 13) paints a stark picture of the widespread and adverse effects of the Trump administration’s proposed reductions in funding for the National Institutes of Health. But largely left unsaid are the detrimental effects it will have on America’s work force.
Cutting N.I.H. funding will not only threaten the more than 410,000 existing jobs it helps support, but also reduce opportunities for young and talented American researchers to access hands-on training and develop real-world skills. Moreover, upending our nation’s research work force pipeline could significantly weaken America’s position as a world-class leader in science and technology.
Voters recognize that scientific research contributes to society; nearly 8 in 10 across parties support taxpayer spending on it, according to a recent study. They see lifesaving medicine, a competitive work force and national security as important returns on these investments. The current administration might benefit from seeing it too.
Daniel Jacobs
Washington
To the Editor:
Re “Trump’s Layoffs Target Talented Young Scientists” (news article, Feb. 18):
In laying off talented young scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, President Trump and his minions are gutting the future of medical research.
Don’t Republicans get cancer, heart disease or diabetes? Or do they think these and other human maladies affect only Democrats? Don’t they care about the future health and well-being of their children and grandchildren?
Judith Tuller
New York
Outrage Over Trump’s Claims About Ukraine
To the Editor:
Re “Trump Calls Zelensky ‘Dictator’ as Feud Grows” (front page, Feb. 20):
The catalog of Donald Trump’s lies has been well documented in this newspaper, but his latest statements — President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine is a “dictator without elections,” and Ukraine is to blame for the war with Russia — are so outrageous and despicable that they go beyond simple mendacity.
We are now living in a world where wrong is right, down is up, out is in.
Robert Wiener
Paris
To the Editor:
Re “A Hero to Biden Is a Villain to His Successor” (news analysis, front page, Feb. 20):
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine wasn’t seen as a hero only by President Joe Biden. He was also seen as a hero by millions of Americans who took to social media and donated time and money to support Ukraine. T-shirts and sweatshirts proclaiming support for Ukraine were seen everywhere. Russia’s aggression was seen for what it was: an overt act to take over an independent country. In other words, for Russia it was business as usual.
President Trump’s attempt to flip the script — in this case, blaming Ukraine for starting the war and calling Mr. Zelensky a dictator — is a repeat tactic used by Mr. Trump.
On Russia and Ukraine, the president’s inability to be his own man no longer leaves any doubt about where his sympathies lie or what he views as the most beneficial to his own ambitions. It is no wonder that President Vladimir Putin of Russia appears to be smirking in so many photos of him and President Trump.
Becoming bedfellows with Russia and selling out America and democracy will likely dominate President Trump’s legacy.
Patricia Weller
Emmitsburg, Md.
To the Editor:
In view of President Trump’s shocking pivot on Russia, I hope that Congress will have the integrity to pass a bipartisan resolution restating in simple terms what has been the U.S. view of Russia for decades: that it is an aggressive threat to freedom around the world.
Is it too much to ask that Congress state the plain truth that Russia was the aggressor in Ukraine? Such a move, while not binding on the president, would be of some reassurance to our allies.
Paul Eklof
Petaluma, Calif.