Biophysical Society Bulletin | October 2025

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Applications Are Open for the Biophysical Society 2025–2026 Congressional Fellowship Interested in using your science skills to inform science policy? Does spending a year working on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, helping develop policy sound exciting? The Biophysical Society’s Congressional Fellowship program (www.biophysics. org/policy-advocacy/congressional-fellowship) is your opportunity to participate directly in the process of law-making that affects how research is funded and regulated. This year-long opportunity provides Fellows a chance to use their science knowledge to inform the public policy process. Fellows will gain firsthand knowledge and experience on how Congress works and participate in the esteemed AAAS Science and Technology Fellows program that provides ongoing training and networking opportunities during the fellowship year and beyond. Visit www.biophysics.org/policy-advocacy/congressio nal-fellowship for more details about the program or contact Leann Fox at fellows@biophysics.org or (240) 290-5606. The application deadline is December 12, 2025.

Trump Signs Executive Order to Reform Federal Grant System On August 7, the White House issued a new Executive Order (EO) focused on Oversight of Federal Grantmaking, sparking alarm across the scientific and medical research communities. The order introduces several significant changes, including the insertion of a new category of political appointees into key roles responsible for awarding scientific research grants, the establishment of a mechanism for the “termination of grants for convenience,” and a directive that prioritizes academic institutions with the lowest indirect cost rates. Experts warn that these provisions could have a catastrophic and cascading impact on federally funded research, under mining the long-standing principles of transparency and scientific merit that have governed grantmaking. The risk of politicizing research decisions threatens to disrupt the progress of critical scientific and medical advancements that depend on objective evaluation and consistent funding. In response, BPS is spearheading a coalition of scientific and medical organizations to challenge the sweeping changes introduced by the EO. The coalition is urging Congress to intervene to preserve the integrity of federal research funding and to prevent the politicization of grant decisions. As the debate unfolds, researchers and institutions across the coun try are watching closely, concerned that these new oversight measures could threaten the future of American science and innovation.

NIH Sets New Research Priorities, Orders Review That Could Halt Non-Compliant Grants National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jayanta “Jay” Bhat tacharya has released a list of 12 research priorities for the agency, while also ordering a sweeping internal review of all NIH-funded research projects. The move has raised concerns among NIH staff and scientists, who worry it could delay grant disbursements and intensify political scrutiny already imposed under the Trump administration. The newly outlined priorities include a focus on scientific training (emphasizing merit over diversity programs), improv ing reproducibility, artificial intelligence, childhood obesity, and building a national data platform. The NIH will continue research into health disparities, but only when supported by measurable factors like redlining—not broad claims such as systemic racism. Transgender health research will be limited to studies identifying harms of therapies, and HIV research will focus on improving access to treatments. Effective immediately, all active and pending grants must be reviewed for alignment with these priorities. Projects not meeting the criteria could be paused or canceled. Critics, including former NIH official Jeremy Berg , have condemned the lack of input from scientists and the abruptness of the policy changes, warning that they could harm critical research and erode public trust in the agency.

October 2025

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THE NEWSLETTER OF THE BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY