NIH Cuts, Priorities, and "We regret to inform you..."

This came as no surprise. The writing on the wall was perhaps more like a larger-than-life mural that couldn't be missed. But the email still felt like a gut punch.

"After 25 years of FIRST, we regret to inform you that the NIH IRACDA Program has been terminated, with our current funding set to end on August 31, 2025. Please see the e-mail below from NIH..."

And the forwarded email from NIH:  "I am writing to let you know that due to changes in NIH/HHS priorities, the Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA) program has been terminated." 

Let me explain. My current position at Emory is as a "postdoctoral research fellow" funded by the NIH (National Institutes of Health) through a program called IRACDA (Institutional Research and Career Development Award). I would direct you to the website, but it doesn't exist anymore. The Emory program is called FIRST (Fellowship in Research and Science Teaching), which is at least a slightly less opaque name and the website does still exist for now. Essentially, the NIH funds Emory to run a program that recruits and trains (diverse) scientists who have recently earned their PhDs to do cutting edge research and also teach at a local "Minority Serving Institution". In my case, I had the privilege of teaching at Spelman College, which is the country's oldest historically black college for women. But that no longer aligns with the NIH's "priorities".

Sure, I'm mad for me. It's scary to not know whether you'll have a job in five months, or whether any of the positions you would have considered applying for will be open or even still exist. But I'm madder for all my friends in the program at Emory and at IRACDA programs around the country. And I'm even madder for the effect that this disruption is having on science and medicine.

This has recently become personal for me in a way that I never imagined. My mother was diagnosed in January with a very rare form of cancer called mesothelioma. The Mayo Clinic website says that mesothelioma "is a fast-growing and deadly form of cancer. There are mesothelioma treatments. But for many people with mesothelioma, there is no cure." She is currently in the middle of a course of combined chemo and immunotherapy (chemunotherapy, as she calls it), and thankfully, it seems to be helping for now. The immunotherapy (Keytruda) was only approved for mesothelioma this past September, after about 10 years of being used to treat other more common cancers. We are so thankful for innovation in cancer treatment using basic science that was funded in large part by the NIH for decades. We are also hoping for continued innovation that will eventually find a cure, and the NIH has been funding multiple promising avenues of research (including mRNA vaccines!). Science saves lives. And sometimes in ways we can't imagine from the titles. (Did you know that GLP-1 medications like Ozempic are based on research on Gila monster venom?)

 

In DC last month attending the #StandUpForScience rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

 

 

I don't have enough hubris to think my own research is poised to change the world dramatically. But scientific progress is incremental, and the big flashy advances are built on thousands of small discoveries and refinements. These decisions to defund science and scientists ignore this reality and are incredibly short sighted.  It's not just my program, it's the firings at the National Institutes of Health and the rest of Health and Human Services (CDC, FDA, etc.), the National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Forest Service, and so much more.

The other side of my sign says "Science is for Everyone", which I chose for its double meaning: I believe that we benefit from diversity in science, and I support DEI efforts, but also, science benefits everyone.

 

 

I'm saddened that our society has lost faith in and appreciation for science. I have a wonderful and supportive boss who is going to try to keep me employed after our NIH funding runs out. I have savings. I will apply for other jobs. But these are sad days not only for science and scientists, but for everyone (even those who don't know it yet). If you can, please advocate for science funding: call your representatives, show up to protests, and perhaps most importantly, talk to people. Make sure folks know what's happening and if they don't care already, maybe try to help them connect a few dots. Hopefully this will be a short-term tragedy that we can recover from soon. But some days optimism is hard.

Sharing: "Oh Shit, It's Mesothelioma: No One Expects the Spanish Inquisition"

My family was really hoping that 2025 would go better than 2024 did. But instead, my mother was diagnosed with mesothelioma earlier this month. She's keeping a blog about her journey: Oh Shit, It's Mesothelioma: No One Expects the Spanish Inquisition

Mesothelioma is generally considered incurable, although treatment can help, and the progression is very individual, so specific prognoses are somewhat meaningless at this point. We are preparing for the worst, hoping for the best, and soaking up lots of love from each other, friends, loved ones, and of course cats.

Liechtenstein: A Beautiful Tiny Country

The Principality of Liechtenstein is a tiny, doubly-landlocked country nestled into the Alps between Switzerland and Austria. 

At it's longest dimension Liechtenstein is just under 25 km (north to south), making it well suited for a walking trip. In fact, in honor of the country's 300th birthday, the Liechtenstein Trail was created in 2019; it's a 75 km walking path that winds its way through all 11 municipalities and past all the major tourist sites. There's even an app that tells you about what you're seeing, the history, culture, and more.

Here are a few highlights! The trail starts at the southern border with Switzerland, which is marked simply with four flags, and stone markers.

In the background, you can see a castle on a hill. This is Gutenberg Castle, one of the particularly iconic landmarks. Gutenberg Castle is about 800 years old, although it was significantly restored in the early 20th century. Various cultural events, including concerts, are now held in the courtyard.

The trail follows the border for a while before going through the town of Balzers and then heading up to the castle, providing multiple different perspectives of the castle, each of them beautiful and impressive.

From Gutenberg Castle and the surrounding region, you can also see the ruins of Wartau Castle over in Switzerland.

The trail then follows the Reichsstrasse, the old "imperial road", from the days of the Holy Roman Empire.

The first stage ended in Triesen, which was a center of industrialization in the 19th century.

Between Triesen and Triesenberg were pastures, vineyards, and orchards, as well as the St. Mamertus Chapel, which dates to at least the 15th century, and some parts likely dating to the 9th or 10th century, potentially the first church in Triesen.

We stayed in Triesenberg (Hotel Oberland) for the first half of the trip, and the views of the valley (and Switzerland beyond) were absolutely stunning. Here was a sunset view from the dinner table at Restaurant Kainer, where we had multiple stellar meals.

Vaduz Castle (Schloss Vaduz) is perhaps the most famous site and symbol of the country. The oldest parts of the fortress were built in the 12th or 13th century, probably by the counts of Werdenberg-Sargans. The walls are up to 4 m thick in some places! It was acquired by the Prince of Liechtenstein in 1712, but for centuries the Princes and their families actually lived in Austria. Prince Johann II ("the Good"), who reigned an impressive 70 years (1858–1929) had the castle restored in the early 20th century, and Prince Franz Joseph II made it the Princely residence in 1938. Startlingly, he was the first Prince of Liechtenstein to reside in the country full-time. One of the most startling things about the castle is how close it is to the road, so if you're driving down from Triesenberg, suddenly you're hurtling towards it. This is all the more surprising given that it is still the official residence of the Prince and his family.

Interestingly, the castle gave the town and capital city its name, Vaduz, rather than the other way around. The castle looks out over the town and is visible from most of it.

There are various museums in Vaduz that are worth a visit, including the National Museum (Liechtensteinisches Landesmuseum), the Treasure Chamber (Schaatzkammer), and the Post Museum. But I'll keep moving along the trail. Along a very short stretch of pedestrian road are not only all those museums, but also the parliament and government buildings. Liechtenstein has an interesting system of both direct democracy and constitutional monarchy.

The entire country of Liechtenstein used to be part of the Diocese of Chur (a city in Switzerland) until Pope John Paul II created the Archdiocese of Vaduz, elevating St Florin's Chapel (which was originally built for the royal family's use) to a cathedral.

Please take a moment to appreciate this ridiculously cute gargoyle.

Liechtenstein's western border is formed by the Rhine. While there are several modern bridges across the river for vehicles, there weren't any (permanent) bridges until the mid-19th century when dams and other measures started to control the river. There's still one old wooden pedestrian bridge (built 1871), where you can also walk across the border to Switzerland.

We walked past the Herawingert Princely Vineyard (and also had a glass of their wine from one of souvenir shops in Vaduz, as part of the Adventure Pass). Wine, especially Pinot Noir, used to be an important export from Liechtenstein.

The "red house" is another iconic building in Vaduz, thought to date from the 14th or 15th century. For several centuries, it was part of the St. Johann monastery, until the Rheinberger family acquired it in the early 19th century and built the tower as part of 20th century reconstruction work.

The town of Schaan is home to the remains of a Schaan Castle, the largest Roman building in Liechtenstein, which was built in the 4th century to protect the Roman road that connected Lake Constance to Milan. The fort used to be a 60-m square with 3-m thick walls, but fell into ruin soon after the Roman soldiers withdrew around 400 AD, and a small church—St. Peter's Chapel—was built on top of the fort walls sometime in the 5th century and rebuilt multiple times over the centuries.

Schaan is also home to a parish church with a monument in memory of Prince Johann the Good.

And a cemetery with a monument to residents of Liechtenstein who died in World War I (called to service by their native countries).

We stayed in Schaan for the second half of the trip, at the Kloster, a hotel within the historic St. Elisabeth monastery. It's a bit of a steep hike up from the town, but the views were lovely, and there was a beautiful chapel right across the road.

On our longest day of walking we did two stages of the trail, from Bendern all the way through Ruggell to Schellenberg. Some of this stretch was along the canal, where we saw swans and mergansers.

Ruggeller Riet is the largest nature reserve in the country and is partially a wetland. We did see storks and a few other birds, but we followed the posted signage and stayed out of the closed nesting areas, and it seemed to be a dry period, so there wasn't as much as we had hoped.

This brought us to the northern border with Austria, which was similarly low-key, but with a customs post. You can just walk right on through though.

See the red and white stake in the midground? That's the border. And the church steeple beyond is Austria.

Lastly, after one of the steepest (and tiring) parts of the trail...

We came to the Lower Castle of Schellenberg, one of two castles built by the Lords of Schellenberg in the 13th century.

I was rather excited that the crenellations remained intact in one section! (I think crenellation might be up there on my list of favorite words...)

Okay, that's it for now. We didn't walk the whole trail, but what we saw was lovely, and I highly recommend it. It's worth noting that while I presented this in order from south to north along the trail, that wasn't actually how we did it, and the flexibility to take the bus to either side of a given stage on a given day was really nice! And between walking so much of the country and the context and history given by the Llstory app, I felt like I really got to know the country and learned a lot.  There's so much more, but I wanted to make sure I got around to sharing these. I hope you enjoyed learning about and seeing a little bit of this beautiful alpine monarchy, the Principality of Liechtenstein!