Trump's research cuts threaten to set off a wave of university brain drain
Emma McDonnell has one of those jobs it takes a few minutes to explain. She’s a biomedical informatics researcher in the University of Washington School of Medicine. But that doesn’t really explain what she does, even if you know what informatics is. Her research is centered on making health care and medical technology accessible to people with disabilities.
Her Ph.D. and master’s degrees were in human-centered design, a field she describes as highly interdisciplinary. I just call it very cool. Human-centered design is something we didn’t know we needed until we had it. I predict the results of her research will become known to most of us someday because it is so essential. Consider the needs of the elderly, people who may not have grown up with disabilities but gain them as time goes on.
This isn’t a story celebrating McDonnell and her work. Unfortunately. This is a column about how she and other young researchers like her are wondering if they will be able to build a science career in a nation led by anti-science, anti-DEI politicians. And it’s about how that could have lasting consequences when it comes to advances in medicine and other fields.
McDonnell is considering redirecting her research focus so she can attract federal grants when her training is complete, or just moving her career in an entirely different direction.
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/04/04/trumps-research-cuts-threaten-to-set-off-a-wave-of-university-brain-drain/