UIC educators, researchers and students protest NIH funding cuts proposed by Trump administration
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Local educators were protesting against potential budget cuts to medical research Wednesday.
They say this will affect everything from cancer patients to HIV and social services.
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Educators, researchers and students at University of Illinois Chicago rallied against proposed funding cuts from the National Institutes of Health, ordered by the Trump administration.
There were educators who had personal experience of how academic research saved their own lives.
Their stories were told as students and teachers are facing tight deadlines as early as the end of this week of losing funding and potentially their careers.
"I am a cancer survivor. I survived cancer by two public institutions," said Dominic Miller, a UIC College of Nursing compliance officer. "To imagine what it's like to be in an experimental treatment and then not know where you're going to go, it is not acceptable."
Other agencies, like the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Centers for Disease Control and the National Science Foundation are also impacted.
"There's a big crisis in academia right now, with researchers not wanting to continue on the academic route. A lot of people in my program sort of jump ship and go work in industry or consulting," Northwestern graduate student Ariel Halle said.
It's leading to graduate students like Halle to reconsider their careers, especially those who will be looking for internships this year.
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"This is our entire supply nationwide of all clinical psychologists who would normally be becoming licensed in the next few years. This year, we don't know how many internships positions will be available," UIC Psychology Associate Professor Margaret Wardle said.
Attorneys general representing 22 states, including Illinois, sued the Trump administration on Monday, asking a federal judge to temporarily block NIH's decision to put a 15% cap on payments for administrative and facility costs linked to research.
A UIC spokesperson said that cap would cut roughly $47 million to the school's funding.
"They're being challenged in the courts. What we're seeing is a kind of start/stop disruption of people's work," UIC Faculty President Aaron Krall said.
Protesters Wednesday said the disruption makes it difficult to figure out how to move forward, but they are prepared for a legal battle, with another hearing coming up on Friday.
"These are life and death matters. We have researchers on this campus right now and across the city, who are working to save people's lives," Krall said.
Several union members said they will be heading to Washington, D.C. next week for a national rally with Labor for Higher Education. That is happening on Tuesday.
