Academic researchers across the nation plan rallies Friday to “Stand Up for Science.” The rallies include one in South Bend.
Cancer researchers at the University of Notre Dame and their colleagues across the street at the Indiana University South Bend Medical School planned to rally against the Trump administration’s proposed funding cuts.
They’ll rally at the corner of Notre Dame Avenue and Angela Boulevard from noon to 2 p.m., joining a nationwide Stand Up for Science initiative, with rallies planned in 31 cities. Researchers from St. Mary’s College and IUSB also will participate.
The effort is a response to the administration’s plan to dramatically reduce National Institutes of Health funding. Specifically, they want to place new, much lower caps on money researchers receive for costs like staff and overhead. Harvard Medical School’s dean has said it would “decimate research.”
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the cuts.
"We want to stand up and let the community and everyone know what science has already done for us, and what science is going to do for us in the future," said Herman Sintim, professor of chemical biology and medicinal chemistry at Notre Dame’s Harper Cancer Research Institute. "Cancer effects so many people in the community. One in three women and one in four men will develop cancer in their lifetime."
