Science caught in crossfire of Trump's fight with universities

April 17 (Reuters) - Harvard scientist Dr. Donald Ingber, who works where medicine and engineering meet, saw federal funding for some of his projects frozen this week as his university clashed with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

While Trump and his advisers portray the freezes as a temporary measure employed to force Harvard to make policy changes and address antisemitism on campus, Ingber and other scientists see long-term negative impacts on a tradition of partnerships between the government and university researchers dating back to World War II that made the U.S. the most technologically powerful country on earth. Scientists say the damage is already aiding competitive rivals like China.

"We're killing the Golden Goose of innovation that has let America be the scientific leader in the world," said Ingber, the founding director of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. "This is destroying our competitiveness."

He has seen two government research contracts worth over $20 million halted since the Trump administration announced a $2.3 billion funding freeze against Harvard this week. One focused on assessing and developing drugs to combat radiation damage in humans. The work can be the basis for drugs to help cancer patients cope with the side effects of radiation therapy, and it could be used to protect soldiers and civilians alike in the case of nuclear war or during a nuclear plant explosion.

The Harvard funding freeze came after the school rejected government-mandated reforms of its academic programs, admissions process and hiring pra...
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