LA JOLLA, Calif. (KGTV) — Hundreds gathered at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) on Friday for a "Stand Up for Science" rally, joining similar events across the country.
The demonstration highlighted growing concerns about proposed cuts to federal research funding and their potential impact on scientific progress and public health.
Lisa Eyler, a Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion at UCSD was one of many professors on Friday who helped organize the rally.
Elyer said, "Our students and our postdocs and our junior faculty, we're really concerned about how they're going to survive and whether we're going to have a next generation of scientists."
Eyler said her community is feeling 'left in the dark', because there have been instances of meetings to discuss grant money for projects being delayed, as well as discussions of limiting admissions to grad programs due to the cuts.
Eyler said the next couple of months could determine whether or not a student stays in science.
"We are trying to say, 'Don't take away our funding, don't censor our science, and don't affect the programs that bring a diversity of people into the field,'" Elyer said.
The rally comes as agencies like the NIH, the National Science Foundation, the NSF, the National Science Foundation, and others face potential cuts of millions of dollars.
The cuts would affect research programs at institutions like UCSD and could have far-reaching consequences for ongoing studies and future scientific breakthroughs.
However, the Trump administration projects that the cuts to the science agencies could save billions of dollars in total and help address the national debt.
The NIH is targeting $4 billion in annual savings through a policy announced on February 7, 2025, capping indirect costs on research grants at 15%. The NSF estimates saving a potential $6 billion in annual cuts, by reducing NSF’s budget from $9 billion (2023 levels) to $3 billion.
However, for students like Leigh-Ana Rossitto, a biomedical Ph.D. student studying Alzheimer's disease at UCSD, the cuts only translate to fear for the future.
"Science is going to be hurt by these funding cuts," Rossitto said.
Rossitto shared her concerns about the impact the cuts would have on not only her Alzheimer's research, but on the underserved communities she's trying to help as well.
"Black and Hispanic Americans are more likely to get Alzheimer's disease, but now we're not allowed to say women, Black or Hispanic, in our research," Rossitto said. "So how can we understand the specific vulnerabilities of these groups if we aren't allowed to talk about them?"
Rossitto feels strongly about the federal cuts hurting patients because she was once a patient in a clinical research study that saved her life.
"I'm an individual with an undiagnosed autoimmune disorder," Rossitto said. "NIH funding helped me find a treatment plan that put me in full remission. I feel very intimately afraid of the future for public health and science in our country."
Eyler encouraged for anyone who is struggling with these cuts, to contact their local representatives and voice their concerns as well as their support for science.
