Research realities in the face of funding restrictions

Internationally recognized neuroscientist Aileen Anderson – a professor of physical medicine & rehabilitation, anatomy & neurobiology and neurosurgery, and the former director of the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center – started her tenure as UC Irvine’s vice chancellor for research on July 1. She had no opportunity to ease into her new, important role. In her first month at the helm, the federal government announced it was suspending approximately $584 million in funding from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and other agencies to UCLA, putting the entire UC system on alert for what might be next. In the months since, several federal court orders have restored vast amounts of those grants, but the situation remains in flux. On Aug. 21, Anderson hosted a town hall to address how federal funding suspensions impact UC Irvine. To make clear her position, her campuswide emails offering updates to the latest developments all end with this quote: “The Office of Research and I stand with our research community. We appreciate your resilience and remain committed to supporting you every step of the way.” In this episode of The UC Irvine Podcast, Anderson demonstrates that dedication by sharing what she knows about the current state of federal funding, how cuts are affecting the research community at UC Irvine and globally, and what these changes could mean for the future of the university, its faculty and students, science, medicine, and, eventually, the health of Americans and international reputation of the United States. “Building Blocks,” the music for this episode, was provided by Nate Blaze, via the audio library in YouTube Studio.