Comment from Johnna Temenoff
Johnna TemenoffOpposeAcademic
Summary: A chaired professor in biomedical engineering opposes the proposed revisions to federal grant regulations. The commenter argues that the ability to terminate grants at any time would jeopardize long-term research projects and student funding, while allowing political interference in scientific funding.
[200.205, 200.340]
To Whom it May Concern:
I am a chaired professor in biomedical engineering.
I am writing in my personal capacity to oppose the proposed revisions to sections 200.205 and 200.340 that would undermine the integrity of federal grant review processes and federal science agencies' ability to identify and fund impactful research.
I have had over 15 federal grants over the course of my career and have trained approximately 20 graduate students. If grants can be terminated at any time, it may become impossible for me to fund my students for their 5-year long PhD studies. This will have a devastating impact on the future of science in the US.
This rule will put politicians in charge of determining what I can and can't research and for how long. Scientific discovery is a years-long process, and many medical treatments would not exist today if politicians decided the crucial, early studies were not fundable.