WASHINGTON: Scie­ntists rallied in cities across the United States to denounce efforts by the administration of US President Donald Trump to eliminate key staff across multiple agencies and curb life-saving research.

Since Trump returned to the White House, his government has cut federal research funding, withdrawn from the World Health Organ­isation and the Paris Agree­ment.

In response, researchers, doctors, students, engineers and elected officials took to the streets in New York, Washington, Boston, Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin on Friday to vent their fury at what they see as an unprecedented attack on science.

“I have never been so angry,” said Jesse Heitner, a researcher at Mass­achusetts General Hospital in Boston, who joined more than 1,000 people demonstrating in the US capital.

“They’re lighting everything on fire,” Heitner said.

He felt particularly ince­nsed about the appointment of noted vaccine sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.

“If you put someone in charge of Nasa who’s a ‘Flat Earther,’ that’s not okay,” he said. “Fund science, not billionaires” and “America was built on science,” read some of the signs brandis­hed at the Washington protest.

“What’s happening now is unprecedented,” said Grover, a resea­rcher in his 50s who dec­lined to provide further per­s­onal details due to professional constraints.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2025