Unlawful grant terminations pose grave threat to America’s innovation pipeline
May 2, 2025
Amicus brief filed in support of suit calling for immediate funding restoration
Four leading life science organizations filed an amicus brief today asking the court to hold recent executive orders resulting in termination of grants supporting young scientists as unlawful and to order the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to restore funding speedily as requested in American Public Health Association v. NIH.
The organizations are partners in the NIH Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) grant program, an initiative that helps promising scientists from a wide range of backgrounds — including those from rural and economically disadvantaged communities as well as those underrepresented in medical research — make the transition into research-intensive career positions. Combined, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB), the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), and the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology (FASEB) represent more than 150,000 people driving innovation through scientific discovery.
According to Mona V. Miller, ASBMB CEO, “The early-career scientists who are part of the MOSAIC program are at critical moments in their careers and met high expectations for scientific excellence and determination. The swift, targeted termination of their funding is at odds with compelling mandates Congress established to advance discoveries and future treatments that American families need. American science needs their expertise and insights to fuel tomorrow’s innovation.”
“The MOSAIC program has been more than a funding source; it created a national community of support for early-career scientists, focused on scientific excellence, mentorship, and expanding opportunity. Programs like this are essential to continuing that progress,” added Rebecca Alvania, ASCB CEO.
Stefano Bertuzzi, ASM CEO, noted, “Ensuring that all talented scientists have the opportunity to address the pressing challenges of our time is essential to all of us. MOSAIC funding encourages scientists of all sorts to innovate, collaborate, and drive scientific progress — that is what keeps America competitive.”
“The MOSAIC program supports the development of a talent pool that is prepared to advance scientific inquiry as well as give back to the research community. Terminating this merit-based program as part of the administration’s implementation of ill-advised executive orders stymies innovation, life-saving discoveries, and the careers of the next generation of researchers,” said Frank Krause, FASEB CEO.
In addition to these four organizations, other scientific societies have signed on to the amicus brief. These organizations also agree with the plaintiffs that these unlawful executive actions are arbitrary and capricious and that they are causing great harm to promising young scientists.
These societies include:
- American Institute of Biological Sciences
- American Sociological Association
- Association for Women in Science
- Ecological Society of America
- Gerontological Society of America
- Infectious Diseases Society of America
- Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry of North America
Answers to the complex challenges facing the U.S. need a variety of perspectives and approaches, and it is important that the U.S. Federal government continues to play a significant role in encouraging inclusion and opportunity for scientists from varied backgrounds. Cutting funding that carries such hope for the future of science is a significant step backward.