Comment from Christal Sohl
Christal SohlOpposeAcademic
Summary: A biochemistry professor at San Diego State University opposes the regulation, arguing that it places decision-making power in the hands of individuals without the necessary expertise. The commenter contends that the regulation creates barriers to critical research and training, potentially harming national competitiveness and public health.
I am a professor of biochemistry at San Diego State University who has served as PI of NIH and NSF research and training grants for over a decade. I currently am PI of two NIH grants (R35, T34), and have had two grant terminations due to "changes in administration priorities." [200.205]: just as I do not want political appointees reviewing my medical records and dictating my subsequent treatment, this inappropriately saddles folks without the appropriate expertise with critical, labor intensive decisions. The most impactful, rigorously designed research should be funded, and a room full of discipline experts are needed to assess this. We will fall behind as a nation, we will put our citizens at risk today by adding barriers to research seeking to develop health interventions, and we put our citizens at risk in the future by adding barriers to research seeking to understand fundamental chemistry, biology, math, physics, etc. that become tomorrow's cures, and to research training our next generation. This is far beyond short-sighted -- it's reckless and unethical.