Policy

Recent articles

A group of researchers reading while institutions crumble in the background, and giant mice appear on the horizon.

Fear and loathing on study section: Reviewing grant proposals while the system is burning

As grants are canceled, delayed and subject to general uncertainty, participating in study sections can feel futile. But it’s more important than ever.

By John Tuthill
14 July 2025 | 8 min read
Hundred dollar bill digitally cut into small pieces.

NIH cuts quash $323 million for neuroscience research and training

“I am frightened for the state of the future of our field if this isn't reversed rapidly,” says Joshua Gordon, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and former director of the National Institute of Mental Health.

By Claudia López Lloreda
16 June 2025 | 8 min read
Distorted floppy discs.

NIH autism database announcement raises concerns among researchers

The U.S. National Institutes of Health announced a plan to pour $50 million into data science projects intended to investigate the condition’s causes, but the initiative’s short timeline and other atypicalities have prompted questions.

By Angie Voyles Askham
5 June 2025 | 5 min read
Amina Abubakar, dressed in yellow, stands outside and looks into the camera lens.

Amina Abubakar translates autism research and care for Kenya

First an educator and now an internationally recognized researcher, the Kenyan psychologist is changing autism science and services in sub-Saharan Africa.

By Ruth Kadide Keah
29 May 2025 | 8 min listen
Image of a connectome being split into two.

Multisite connectome teams lose federal funding as result of Harvard cuts

The teams aim to develop tools to scale up mouse connectomics in preparation for eventually mapping an entire human brain.

By Angie Voyles Askham
28 May 2025 | 5 min read
Silhouettes watch a figure standing in front of a huge human brain.

Neuroscience needs to empower early-career researchers, not fund moon shots

Large-scale projects run the risk of stifling scientific independence. Instead, let’s explore alternative mechanisms of collaboration.

By Dan Goodman
26 May 2025 | 7 min read
A disembodied hand holds a stamp over a messy stack of papers.

Exclusive: Layoffs revoked at U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

After more than a month of uncertainty, 30 previously purged employees at the institute no longer face termination.

By Angie Voyles Askham, Sydney Wyatt
21 May 2025 | 3 min read
Photograph of the BRIDGE team and students visiting a laboratory.

Sharing Africa’s brain data: Q&A with Amadi Ihunwo

These data are “virtually mandatory” to advance neuroscience, says Ihunwo, a co-investigator of the Brain Research International Data Governance & Exchange (BRIDGE) initiative, which seeks to develop a global framework for sharing, using and protecting neuroscience data.

By Lauren Schenkman
20 May 2025 | 6 min read
A researcher stands at the top of a staircase that leads to nowhere.

NIDA shutters diversity fellowship program, axes active awards

It’s unclear if the cancellation at the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse extends to the fellowships awarded by other institutes within the National Institutes of Health.

By Calli McMurray
14 May 2025 | 5 min listen
Illustration of a lab coat being wiped away.

Federal funding cuts imperil next generation of autism researchers

As the International Society for Autism Research’s annual meeting begins, its next president reflects on a brewing crisis.

By Brian Boyd
30 April 2025 | 5 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Researcher holds a mouse perched on a glass cylinder.

NIH proposal sows concerns over future of animal research, unnecessary costs

The new NIH policy calls for greater incorporation of new approach methodologies in all future Notices of Funding Opportunities related to animal model systems.

By Claudia López Lloreda
15 July 2025 | 5 min read

Altered transcription in dup15q syndrome; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 14 July.

By Jill Adams
15 July 2025 | 2 min read

ABCD Study omits gender-identity data from latest release

The removal counteracts the goals of the longitudinal study by “pretending that some aspects of adolescent brain development don’t exist,” says sex differences researcher Nicola Grissom.

By Calli McMurray
11 July 2025 | 4 min read