Scientific, Medical Groups Oppose Political Interference with NIH Research Grant

The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) joined 30 other scientific and medical associations to express deep concerns about the revocation of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded research grant to study coronavirus. Last month, NIH terminated a peer-reviewed research grant awarded in June 2019 that was investigating how coronaviruses move from their natural hosts to humans. The decision came after unverified reports from U.S. lawmakers and conservative media suggested that the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, China, which employs a Chinese virologist who had been receiving funding from the grant in question. “Not only is this decision counterintuitive, given the urgent need to better understand the virus that causes COVID-19 and identify drugs that will save lives, but it politicizes science at a time when, if we are to stamp out this scourge, we need the public to trust experts and to take collective action,” the societies wrote in a May 20, 2020 letter addressed to NIH Director Francis Collins. “The scientific community urges federal funding agencies and policymakers to ensure the transparency, openness, and collaborative nature of the American biomedical research enterprise. We call on the NIH to be transparent about their decision-making process on this matter. We urge federal funding agencies to safeguard the American biomedical research enterprise. The action taken by the...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news