Cornell's $1 Billion Funding Freeze Derailed Artificial Baby Heart Project, Stalling Research After Grants Returned
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 18
Cornell's $1 Billion Funding Freeze Derailed Artificial Baby Heart Project, Stalling Research After Grants Returned
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 18
Months after Cornell’s federal funding was restored, Dr. James Antaki still has not restarted meaningful work on an artificial heart for babies and young children.
More than $1 billion in Cornell funding was frozen last April, cutting off Antaki’s grants, draining his lab’s reserves and forcing him to lay off his entire staff.
Funding returned just before Thanksgiving, but a former postdoctoral researcher had already taken another job and a university hiring freeze left the lab struggling to rebuild.
Antaki’s case shows how restored money cannot quickly recover lost staff, continuity and research momentum after the Trump administration’s broader cuts to U.S. science funding.
With unpredictable funding, how can the next generation of scientists build stable careers to pursue critical long-term research?
When scientific breakthroughs are paused, what is the true cost to human health and future medical innovation?
As US science funding faces ongoing cuts, which nations are positioned to take the lead in global research and technology?