Science in the Balance

The partnership between the U.S. federal government and academic institutions has led to decades of relentless scientific and medical progress. Will it continue to do so?

  • April 2025
The American Flag flies over Harvard Medical School’s Gordon Hall, with new spring oak leaves on a tree in the foreground.

For more than 75 years, a partnership between the U.S. government and academic institutions has propelled some of the most important medical breakthroughs — from cancer therapies and heart disease treatments to the mapping of the human genome. Looming uncertainty over federal funding for science has ignited concern that this progress could be stalled.

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