Scientific research in the United States is facing imminent threats. We must continue to fund research and reinstate diversity, equity and inclusion programs in order to advance medicine and key therapeutics and to keep the U.S. as the global leader in research.
Our Colorado research universities, including the University of Colorado System and the Colorado State University System, rely on government funding. In 2024 alone, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded over $550 million in funding to Colorado universities and supported over $1.5 billion in economic activity. In Weld County specifically, losing federal research funding would mean an estimated economic loss of $15 million.
I grew up in Greeley. Today, I am a first-year neuroscience PhD student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. But as a high school student, I had no idea that research or graduate school was an option. Then, I was enjoying school (as much as high school students do), playing sports, and working and volunteering at the Family FunPlex. I knew I wanted to go to college, but graduate education (especially in science) seemed out of reach.
In my final year as a college student at CU Denver, I found an exciting, and competitive, research program specifically meant to provide opportunities to students from backgrounds underrepresented in neuroscience research: the NIH-funded Blueprint ENDURE program. Being Mexican American, I didn’t see many people from backgrounds similar to mine in academia. It was exciting to find a space in science that welcomed me and opened the door into research. Through ENDURE, I discovered how rewarding it can be, and I found my place in science.
I decided to pursue full-time research opportunities post-grad. I spent two years at the University of Pennsylvania in the NIH-funded Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP). PREP created full-time, paid research opportunities for recent graduates who are passionate about research, interested in graduate education, and underrepresented in science. PennPREP taught me everything I didn’t know (and couldn’t learn online) about grad school. Without my experience there, I may not have been successful in navigating the black box of the graduate school admissions process.
My first year of graduate school has been tumultuous. Along with adjusting to life as a graduate student, I am facing the uncertainty of the career I have dedicated myself to. The recent funding freezes have affected everyone I know in academic research. Grad programs are slashing admissions; professors fear for the future of their labs.
Additionally, due to recent dismantling and de-funding of DEI initiatives, the NIH has had to cut programs serving students underrepresented in science. I have had to watch the programs that supported my entrance into research, ENDURE and PREP, be eradicated. Dismantling DEI efforts closes the door on countless potential scientists. Students like me, who may have never had the opportunity to participate in research otherwise, are losing access to equity programs that lift them up and enhance biomedical research excellence. We must keep those doors open.
Beyond this, the American public, including Greeley, faces serious threats to the advancement of medical treatments and therapies. Delays in research mean delayed development of life-saving treatments for debilitating diseases and disorders such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and mental health disorders. My home institution, Mount Sinai, and Colorado universities alike are working to find the best treatments and preventions for these disorders and need federal funding to do so.
I urge you to reach out to our Colorado and Weld County congressmen and demand they fight to defend research funding and the reinstatement of DEI programs. Thank you.
Alexandra Ramirez is currently a PhD student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her opinions are her own and not those of her institution. She studies how the brain makes decisions and how this can go wrong in neuropsychiatric disorders.
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