Hello and welcome back from ASCO everybody. If you didn’t get a chance to tune in, we had our ASCO live recap on Wednesday, where STAT reporters including myself discussed the meeting with Cliff Hudis, ASCO’s CEO, and you can catch up on demand here.
Today, I want to note an email that Johns Hopkins University President Ron Daniels sent out yesterday. In it, Daniels noted that the total outstanding value of the university’s multiyear federal research portfolio is down by more than half a billion dollars in 2025, due in part to a 43% drop in federal funding and 28% fewer awards compared to 2024. “Unfortunately, as we approach the midpoint of 2026, these downward trends have continued unabated,” Daniels wrote in the letter.
Daniels also brought up that the university is trying to put some stopgaps in place, including millions in funding from their state of Maryland and other sources. Nonetheless, the overall reception is grim, if Hopkins physician scientist Mark Yarchoan’s note on X is any indication.
It’s hard not to weigh this against NCI director Tony Letai’s comments this past week at ASCO, as well as his earlier comments at AACR and since he took office. Letai has consistently said that NCI is stable, and that the budget for the agency is strong despite what people might perceive. He’s also urged the research community to hold on, as it will take some years for multi-year funding-related disruptions level out. Given what we’re seeing and hearing, the messaging from NIH leadership seems to clash sharply with the on the ground experience of extramural community members.
What’s happening at a federal level and the consequences, in concrete details, is a complicated, evolving story, I think. There’s a lot going on, including the recently reported changes in the federal Uniform Guidance.
