On May 21, the New York Times reported that 77 Nobel laureates has asked for an investigation into the cancellation of a federal grant to EcoHealth Alliance, a group that researches bat coronaviruses in China. The pre-eminent scientists characterized the explanation for the decision by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as “preposterous.”
A day earlier on May 20, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) issued a press release and sent a letter of protest to the NIH Director on behalf of 31 scientific societies representing tens of thousands of members. The letter said the grant cancellation politicized science and concluded, “The action taken by the NIH must be immediately reconsidered.”
According to a May 17 report by the Daily Beast, "a military contractors’ report circulating on Capitol Hill claims to have evidence that COVID-19 escaped from a Chinese lab. It’s filled with information that’s just plain wrong."
On May 10, CBS 60 Minutes broadcasted "Why it matters that the NIH canceled a coronavirus research grant" with the byline "Faulty allegations led to cutting $3.7 million dollars to ecologists studying coronaviruses. The ramifications may be felt in future pandemics."
On May 4, Sarina Neote, ASBMB Science Policy Manager, expressed concerns about increasing fear within the scientific community of being targeted as a result of race or identify and the cancellation of the EcoHealth grant in the APA Justice conference call. She followed with an ASBMB position statement after the call and welcomes Asian American and other organizations to join the effort.
In an April 30 CNN opinion, Benjamin Corb, ASBMB Public Affairs Director, raised the question: Why did the NIH terminate a grant that supports leading research into how coronaviruses can be transferred from their natural host of bats to humans in the middle of a pandemic? "Politicizing peer-reviewed science is a dangerous threat to the independent American scientific enterprise and is the first step on a deeply concerning slippery slope. If Daszak's research can be stopped by funding cuts at the whim of the President, what other research grants in the future will be pulled because of the left or right leanings of any future president? What damage would such a decision have on the world-leading productivity and reputation of the National Institutes of Health? Science must remain independent and nonpoliticized if it is to be trusted and productive during this pandemic crisis and beyond," Corb said.
On April 27, Politico broke the story that NIH told EcoHealth Alliance, the study’s sponsor on bat-human virus transmission for the past five years, that all future funding was cut. “At this time, NIH does not believe that the current project outcomes align with the program goals and agency priorities,” Michael Lauer, NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research, wrote in a letter to Dr. Pete Daszak, who is President of EcoHealth Alliance.
Please contact APA Justice Task Force facilitator Dr. Jeremy Wu at Jeremy.S.Wu@gmail.com or ASBMB Science Policy Manager Sarina Neote at sneote@asbmb.org if you would like to join this very important effort.
Links and References
2020/05/24 Yahoo News: Wuhan lab had three live bat coronaviruses: Chinese state media
2020/05/21 New York Times: Prominent Scientists Denounce End to Coronavirus Grant
Joint Letter of Protest by 77 Nobel Laureates to HHS Secretary Azar and NIH Director Collins
2020/05/20 ASBMB: Joint Letter of Protest to NIH Director Francis Collins
ASBMB Press Release: Joint Letter of Protest to NIH Director Francis Collins
2020/05/18 Forbes: China’s Xi Jinping Supports WHO Investigation Into Coronavirus Origins
2020/05/17 Daily Beast: Busted: Pentagon Contractors’ Report on ‘Wuhan Lab’ Origins of Virus Is Bogus
2020/05/10 CBS 60 Minutes: Why it matters that the NIH canceled a coronavirus research grant
2020/04/30 CNN opinion: This is what happens when coronavirus research funding gets political
2020/04/28 ASBMB: Revocation of EcoHealth Alliance grant on bat-human virus transmisison.
2020/04/27 Politco: Trump cuts U.S. research on bat-human virus transmission over China ties
2020/03/25 ASBMB: Protecting American science - and the international collaborators critical to its success (video 1:00:19)
ASBMB: Recap of Webinar
2020/02/26 ASBMB: Lawmakers press FBI and NIH on research-integrity investigations
A day earlier on May 20, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) issued a press release and sent a letter of protest to the NIH Director on behalf of 31 scientific societies representing tens of thousands of members. The letter said the grant cancellation politicized science and concluded, “The action taken by the NIH must be immediately reconsidered.”
According to a May 17 report by the Daily Beast, "a military contractors’ report circulating on Capitol Hill claims to have evidence that COVID-19 escaped from a Chinese lab. It’s filled with information that’s just plain wrong."
On May 10, CBS 60 Minutes broadcasted "Why it matters that the NIH canceled a coronavirus research grant" with the byline "Faulty allegations led to cutting $3.7 million dollars to ecologists studying coronaviruses. The ramifications may be felt in future pandemics."
On May 4, Sarina Neote, ASBMB Science Policy Manager, expressed concerns about increasing fear within the scientific community of being targeted as a result of race or identify and the cancellation of the EcoHealth grant in the APA Justice conference call. She followed with an ASBMB position statement after the call and welcomes Asian American and other organizations to join the effort.
In an April 30 CNN opinion, Benjamin Corb, ASBMB Public Affairs Director, raised the question: Why did the NIH terminate a grant that supports leading research into how coronaviruses can be transferred from their natural host of bats to humans in the middle of a pandemic? "Politicizing peer-reviewed science is a dangerous threat to the independent American scientific enterprise and is the first step on a deeply concerning slippery slope. If Daszak's research can be stopped by funding cuts at the whim of the President, what other research grants in the future will be pulled because of the left or right leanings of any future president? What damage would such a decision have on the world-leading productivity and reputation of the National Institutes of Health? Science must remain independent and nonpoliticized if it is to be trusted and productive during this pandemic crisis and beyond," Corb said.
On April 27, Politico broke the story that NIH told EcoHealth Alliance, the study’s sponsor on bat-human virus transmission for the past five years, that all future funding was cut. “At this time, NIH does not believe that the current project outcomes align with the program goals and agency priorities,” Michael Lauer, NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research, wrote in a letter to Dr. Pete Daszak, who is President of EcoHealth Alliance.
Please contact APA Justice Task Force facilitator Dr. Jeremy Wu at Jeremy.S.Wu@gmail.com or ASBMB Science Policy Manager Sarina Neote at sneote@asbmb.org if you would like to join this very important effort.
Links and References
2020/05/24 Yahoo News: Wuhan lab had three live bat coronaviruses: Chinese state media
2020/05/21 New York Times: Prominent Scientists Denounce End to Coronavirus Grant
Joint Letter of Protest by 77 Nobel Laureates to HHS Secretary Azar and NIH Director Collins
2020/05/20 ASBMB: Joint Letter of Protest to NIH Director Francis Collins
ASBMB Press Release: Joint Letter of Protest to NIH Director Francis Collins
2020/05/18 Forbes: China’s Xi Jinping Supports WHO Investigation Into Coronavirus Origins
2020/05/17 Daily Beast: Busted: Pentagon Contractors’ Report on ‘Wuhan Lab’ Origins of Virus Is Bogus
2020/05/10 CBS 60 Minutes: Why it matters that the NIH canceled a coronavirus research grant
2020/04/30 CNN opinion: This is what happens when coronavirus research funding gets political
2020/04/28 ASBMB: Revocation of EcoHealth Alliance grant on bat-human virus transmisison.
2020/04/27 Politco: Trump cuts U.S. research on bat-human virus transmission over China ties
2020/03/25 ASBMB: Protecting American science - and the international collaborators critical to its success (video 1:00:19)
ASBMB: Recap of Webinar
2020/02/26 ASBMB: Lawmakers press FBI and NIH on research-integrity investigations