Scientists, researchers and students from several Oregon universities were among the crowd of more than 500 people rallying against federal directives threatening funding for scientific and medical research at the state capitol Friday.
Some researchers at the event outwardly embraced their work, wearing lab coats to the rally, while others held handmade signs that read 鈥渟cience saves lives鈥� and 鈥渇reeze proteins, not funding.鈥�
鈥淭hank you all for showing up and choosing science, not silence,鈥� Brittany Barker told the assembled supporters outside the capitol building. Barker was the lead organizer of the rally and is an assistant research professor at Oregon State University.
The rally, called 鈥淪tand Up for Science 2025,鈥� was part of a grassroots, nationwide effort advocating for the federal government to support scientific research in the U.S. Organizers say marches and demonstrations were held in nearly every state Friday, with a main rally in Washington D.C.
Educating the public about what scientists and researchers do is a big part of the rally鈥檚 message.
鈥淪cience funds important health research. It gives us safe food for our children and also keeps our environment safe,鈥� said Barker. 鈥淚t helps us respond better to natural disasters such as the wildfires that we experience in Oregon. These advances are due to science.鈥�
The event is a direct response to the flurry of executive orders, directives and funding freezes put in place in the first weeks of the Trump administration. Among other things, the directives ordered federal agencies to root out fraud, waste and abuse of federal dollars.
Researchers at the Salem rally were especially concerned with the National Institutes of Health鈥檚 move to curb research funding.
鈥淚f I didn鈥檛 have NIH funding, I鈥檓 not sure I鈥檇 be standing here or that the hundreds of thousands of lives that have been saved [by cancer research] would be here today,鈥� said Oregon Health and Science University professor and former OHSU Knight Cancer Institute CEO Brian Druker. Druker, who spoke at the rally, is widely known for his research that led to a groundbreaking leukemia treatment.
Last month, the NIH unveiled a new policy that would cap indirect costs from research grants the agency funds to 15%. Indirect costs go toward expenses that ensure researchers can run their projects successfully like rental fees for facilities, utility bills and salaries for administrative staff.
Organizations, universities and other entities that are awarded NIH grants often take on these expenses in real-time and are then reimbursed by the agency through a previously negotiated indirect costs rate. The average rate is 28%, but some institutions, like Oregon Health and Science University, have negotiated rates above 50%.
The new NIH policy is currently blocked after a federal judge extended a temporary injunction earlier this week.
鈥淪cience, especially basic science research like I鈥檓 doing, is foundational to medicine and health care that has saved lives around the world,鈥� said Megan Radler, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oregon who attended the rally. 鈥淚 think most importantly, diverse minds in science are crucial to doing good science. The gag order about diversity, equity and inclusion is deeply disturbing to me.鈥�
U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-Oregon) also attended the Salem event. She called the attempt to cut scientific and medical research funding reckless.
鈥淪cience is not a partisan issue. It鈥檚 about progress, economic opportunity, and ensuring a better future for all Oregonians and all Americans,鈥� Salinas said. 鈥淭hese unprecedented attacks on truth and innovation are at their core, attacks on the health and economic security of all working Americans.鈥�