amfAR expert: There's a political assault on prevention scientists
amfAR expert: There's a political assault on prevention scientists
[Editor's note: At a recent teleconference, sponsored by the Open Society Institute, a Soros Foundations Network, of New York, NY, Judy Auerbach, vice president for public policy at the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) of New York, NY, spoke about the disconnect between science and the current Congress and presidential administration's handling of HIV prevention and research. Here is a brief question-and-answer exchange between Auerbach and AIDS Alert. ]
AIDS Alert: I have spoken with HIV prevention scientists who have talked about a chilling effect on the research from this administration and Congress in recent years. They say they believe the research will not be funded if it targets certain populations or uses certain words. I'd like to know how significant you believe this problem is and if it contributes to the overall effectiveness of evidence-based intervention?
Auerbach: That's a very common perception among HIV and AIDS researchers, particularly prevention scientists, and it comes from some very specific actions that have occurred recently, including attacks on particular researchers and their research projects based on the contents of those projects and the populations they have addressed, specifically around sexual health and HIV prevention and vulnerable groups: men who have sex with men or gay men, sex workers, and injecting drug users.
And that's a case where the assaults have come as much from Congress as they have from the administration. In fact, their allies in think tanks or non-governmental organizations have identified by name certain studies and researchers, and, in some cases, proposed amendments to funding legislation, saying these grants that already have been peer reviewed and approved for funding, and in many cases, are already in process as studied, [they say] their funding should be cut.
So there have been really very specific and deliberate attacks on grants, peer-reviewed studies, and the researchers. And the implication is that the populations that they're interested in studying aren't worth studying. They're not as deserving of our public health support as some other groups, I suppose. Or they don't like the contents of the research because it's around sexuality or drug use. So this, in fact, has put a chilling effect on the researchers.
Some of that concern gets translated to the folks who manage the grant programs out of the federal agencies that fund research, where they're trying to protect the research and make sure that it happens. But they're also cautioning researchers to be mindful of these kinds of assaults. So what you see is folks, you know, either not getting into this line of work at all or moderating the approaches to appease political concerns. And it could in the end mean that we don't have the kind of research being undertaken that should be.
We also have the fear that the whole peer review system that the entire world really celebrates about the U.S.—we have a model system for assessing what's appropriate science to fund with public dollars—that that's under assault itself. And that's a pretty fundamental concern for science and for the quality and validity of the kinds of science we do support.
AIDS Alert: I have spoken with HIV prevention scientists who have talked about a chilling effect on the research from this administration and Congress in recent years. They say they believe the research will not be funded if it targets certain populations or uses certain words.Subscribe Now for Access
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