Over 90 NIH scientists sign the Bethesda Declaration, challenging Trump-era leadership, halted research, and a growing culture of fear at the agency.

They called it the Bethesda Declaration, for the location of the NIH. “We hope you will welcome this dissent, which we modeled after your Great Barrington Declaration,” the staffers wrote.

Former NIH researcher Jeremy Berg, who ran the National Institute of General Medical Sciences from 2003 to 2011, praises the scientists behind the Bethesda Declaration.

This photo obtained by The Associated Press shows cardboard tombstones symbolizing canceled research grants at the NIH Visitors Center in Bethesda, Md., Saturday, on June 7, 2025.

Jenna Norton ,who works as a researcher at the NIH, poses for a photograph during an interview with the Associated Press in Bethesda, Md., Friday, June 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) ...

In the Bethesda Declaration, the scientists say the Trump administration has "forced NIH, under [Bhattacharya's] watch" to "politicize" research, "stigmatize" studies about health disparities, and ...

“The Bethesda Declaration has some fundamental misconceptions about the policy directions the NIH has taken in recent months, including the continuing support of the NIH for international ...