In its first 50 days, the Trump administration made sweeping changes to scientific arms of the government like the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration. The president issued executive orders to terminate all work that was related to DEI, environmental justice and gender inclusivity. In response, research was halted and thousands of people were fired — some of which was reversed.
It's a lot to keep track of, so we called in reinforcements.
Here to recount it all and analyze what these ongoing changes mean for the future of scientific research in the United States are NPR science correspondents Rob Stein, Pien Huang and Jonathan Lambert.
Want to hear more about policy changes affecting science? Let us know by emailing shortwave@npr.org! We're also always open to other story ideas you have.
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This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson and edited by Rebecca Ramirez and Gisele Grayson. Tyler Jones checked the facts. Robert Rodriguez was the audio engineer.
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