For over three decades, John Quakenbush has dedicated his career to biomedical research, exploring the mechanisms that cause healthy individuals and their cells to become afflicted with disease.
As he navigates the complexities of life in Boston with his family, including a son and a mortgage, Quakenbush now finds himself contemplating a drastic decision: moving out of the United States due to substantial cuts to federal funding, totaling around $1 million from his projects.
“I’d hate to leave my home. I’d hate to leave my country,” Quakenbush expressed.
The notion of abandoning his research also weighs heavily on his mind, complicating an already difficult decision.
Quakenbush’s situation is not unique; many at Harvard are grappling with similar uncertainties.
The problems stem from a series of recent federal research grant cuts at Harvard, compounded by President Donald Trump’s administration proposing a budget that would potentially slash nearly 40% of the National Institutes of Health budget compared to the previous year.
Moreover, the Trump administration has frozen or cut nearly $3 billion in federal funding, citing concerns over antisemitism on campus, particularly in response to how Harvard has handled the safety of Jewish students during the conflict in Gaza.
In May, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services justified cutting $60 million in grants to Harvard by insisting that federal funds should support institutions that protect all students, and that discrimination will not be tolerated in academia.
Countries like Australia and France are extending offers of funding and job opportunities to researchers from Harvard, acknowledging the current turbulence regarding research funding and the university’s capability to host foreign students.
Quakenbush clarified his support for Harvard’s stance to defend its First Amendment rights but acknowledged the looming reality of facing a potential two-year period without external research funding, and perhaps even longer.
He expressed concern that being away from research for an extended period could make it increasingly difficult to secure future grants.
In an effort to explore alternatives, Quakenbush, along with some colleagues, has started applying for research grants in Europe, viewing it as a way to gauge interest in his work abroad while simultaneously contemplating the ramifications for his current projects.
“We’re throwing away tens of millions of dollars of work by prematurely terminating these projects,” Quakenbush stated, emphasizing the loss tied to funding cuts.
The uncertainty has reached other constituents at Harvard, particularly for individuals like Kelsey Tyssowski, a postdoctoral researcher.
Tyssowski’s journey toward securing a tenure-track position is jeopardized by the cuts, with research funding set to expire at the month’s end. This precarious situation leaves her dependent on tenure faculty to determine the continuation of her role.
A canceled National Institutes of Health grant, once intended to cover her salary through March 2026, has left her scrambling as she faces a tight job market filled with hiring freezes across academia.
“I have to get a job this year. And this year it’s going to be very hard to get a tenure track faculty job because there’s hiring freezes everywhere,” Tyssowski remarked.
Her work focuses on skilled movement, examining complex learned behaviors that demand total body coordination, akin to activities like climbing.
With an innovative approach involving deer mice, Tyssowski believes her research could provide critical insights into how the human brain manages skilled movement and potential treatments for diseases like ALS, where coordination is severely compromised.
However, should she leave academia, Tyssowski fears her research will vanish entirely.
“No one will do this research. I won’t do this research. It will just go away,” she lamented.
Despite having the qualifications to transition into biotechnology or pharmaceuticals for higher pay, she reveals a deep commitment to the mission of federally funded research and the mission of higher education.
Jules Riegel, a lecturer in History and Literature at Harvard, echoed her sentiments.
“We don’t go into academia because we want to make money. We go into academia because we believe in the mission of it,” Riegel, who prefers they/them pronouns, stated.
Riegel faces a three-year cap on their employment at Harvard, which limits how long they can work without tenure. As they near the conclusion of this period, they too find themselves contemplating their next steps amid the increasing pressures of funding cuts.
As negotiations occur to potentially eliminate such time restrictions for non-tenured staff through the Harvard Academic Workers chapter of the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, the tight job market leaves Riegel open to the possibility of seeking job opportunities abroad or exiting academia altogether.
“I really don’t want to, but I have to be realistic about the world we’re now in and that at the end of the day, that lies at the feet of the Trump administration,” they explained, reflecting on the impact of current political decisions on their career.
Riegel noted that pursuing academia has been a lifelong aspiration and that the thought of leaving it behind weighs heavily on their heart.
Amid these challenges, Quakenbush has already begun notifying four of his staff about impending layoffs and urged postdoctoral students to consider looking for opportunities outside the U.S.
The admissions to the Biostatistics Department at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health have also shrunk drastically, dropping from a normal intake of 12 to 15 students down to just four, with two of them being international students unsure about their visa prospects.
Bence Ölveczky, a Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard, noted the difficulty of remaining optimistic and how it has affected the decision-making of students and researchers looking to join the institution.
In particular, this atmosphere weighs heavily on international applicants amid rumors of stricter enforcement of immigration policies affecting students.
Ölveczky shared the experience of an incoming graduate student from Taiwan, regarded as exceptional by colleagues, yet he cannot reassure them about the conditions that lie ahead, fraught with uncertainty and anxiety.
Describing his own journey to the U.S. from Hungary at 28, Ölveczky reminisced about finding a sense of belonging in a nation of immigrants, a sentiment now overshadowed by the current political climate.
Reflecting on his situation, he expressed, “If I were making the move again out of Hungary for my doctoral degree, there would be ‘no chance’ of me coming to the country.”
As researchers, students, and faculty navigate these tumultuous waters, concerns for the future resonate throughout Harvard’s community, where dedication to research and academia is being tested against external pressures and federal funding cuts.
image source from：https://www.masslive.com/news/2025/06/as-trump-cuts-funding-these-harvard-scholars-consider-leaving-us-and-academia.html
