National Cancer Institute Apparently Shouldn’t Bother With All That Pesky Science

Multiple members have now confirmed to Splinter that the Board of Scientific Advisors has been entirely disbanded. This is in keeping with Trump administration efforts in other parts of government, where various advisory committees and boards have been shown the door for nebulous “reducing the size of government” sorts of reasons that ignore how these people are not actually in the government. From the perspective of the most anti-science, anti-intellectual administration the country’s history, it makes a lot of sense — scientists will surely tell you what you’re doing is very bad and that you should in fact do the exact opposite, but they won’t if you just stop asking them. From the perspective of literally everyone else, including the 40 percent or so of the entire population who will develop cancer in their lifetimes and the 100 percent who will know and care about them, it does not.

The “termination” letter board members received, sent electronically on Monday, was signed by recently confirmed National Institutes of Health director Jayanta Bhattacharya (who, by the way, continues to flout his own rules on email etiquette by signing some internal messages “Jay”). Per one member who received the notice, it states that “success of the NIH has been due in large part to the willingness of people like you to participate on advisory committees.”

“My only comment is to agree with this sentiment expressed by Dr. Bhattacharya,” one board member told Splinter, “and emphasize that without these external advisory committees to help refine, guide, and identify areas of scientific need, this success may be less likely.” Another member said in an email, “It is a pity, lack of a myriad of voices will lead to less innovation.”

This move is just the latest in a string that defines the administration as objectively pro-cancer. They have targeted contracts to hamstring ongoing research, fired hundreds of NCI employees, slowed or stopped grant money and scientists’ participation in publishing and conference attendance, and more. Coincidentally, a member of the National Cancer Advisory Board — a different entity that, at least as of Monday, appears to remain intact — published an opinion piece in the journal JAMA Oncology on Tuesday, expressly denouncing the attacks on cancer research funding we have seen over the last few months.

“The NCI is a national treasure,” wrote Richard Boxer, of UCLA, adding that every dollar spent on cancer research returns $2.70 to the economy. “If funding is diminished, it will be catastrophic to millions of patients and families who will experience the devastation of cancer in the coming years.”

It can’t be said enough: both in the short and long term, they are trying to kill us.