I have many fond memories of growing up in Santa Clarita. As a child, I spent my summers swimming with the Northbridge Point Piranhas and reading books at the Newhall Library. At Valencia High School, I was involved in student council, varsity swimming, and the National Honor Society. These opportunities enabled me to attend the University of Notre Dame, where I studied neuroscience and linguistics. After graduating college in 2024, I moved to New York City and am now pursuing a Ph.D. in neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
I feel very lucky to be able to study neuroscience in the United States – we’ve been a global leader in scientific research for decades. At Mount Sinai, we’ve discovered three new genes linked to schizophrenia, generated stem cells from bats for the first time, discovered the genetic cause of ReNU syndrome, and studied how mRNA splicing affects Alzheimer’s disease.
These advances, and so many others, are made possible through immense financial support from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, which have enjoyed bipartisan support for many years.
However, recent funding cuts to the NIH and NSF have left scientists devastated. The government recently moved to cap “indirect costs,” or administrative expenses, associated with research in order to provide more money to the “direct costs” of research (ex: testing new drugs on mice). Although reasonable in theory, this has catastrophic consequences. Groundbreaking medical discoveries simply cannot take place without the infrastructure and administrative staff that support our labs. These funding cuts will undeniably slow scientific progress in the United States and threaten our ability to remain an international force for good.
You may ask yourself – how does this impact me in Southern California? According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, California universities would lose $860 million in funding, with the University of California system alone losing $460 million. Furthermore, scientific advancements improve our broader society by contributing to longer life expectancy, better education, and innovations that enhance quality of life for everyone. Not to mention the economic benefit: every $1 spent on research generates $2.50 in return, and NIH funding contributed $5.15 billion to California alone in 2023. This directly supported over 55,000 jobs and contributed $13 billion in economic activity to California. Without this funding, we’re not only losing the opportunity to make meaningful scientific discoveries, we’re also jeopardizing jobs, life expectancy, medical advancements and the education of future scientists like myself.
To be clear: This isn’t about what’s lost. It’s about what we can still protect if we speak up.
I urge you to join me in contacting our state and federal representatives. Tell them to prioritize NIH and NSF funding because American science is worth the investment. Science is deeply embedded in communities like Santa Clarita, and ongoing investment is essential to keeping our communities thriving and our economy strong.
Brooke Friedman
New York City
