In 2021, Scripps Research Professor Dr. Ardem Patapoutian won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for groundbreaking research on how humans sense touch, temperature, and pressure. Ardem was a refugee from war torn Lebanon, and is one of the many shining examples of the contributions new Americans have made when we have welcomed them. I first met Ardem when I visited his lab at Scripps Research, which is funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In February, his funding was frozen, and he was immediately offered a lab and 20 years of funding from China. Luckily for us, he declined, but not everyone might, and America may lose our best scientific talent in the process.  

San Diego is home to one of the country’s largest life sciences ecosystems, including world-class public and private research institutions and private companies that turn discoveries into therapies and cures. CA50 receives nearly $1 billion in NIH grant funding every year. It's a major driver of our region’s economy and our culture as a community that prides itself on our brain power. Dr. Patapoutian’s work to develop new approaches to treating pain is exactly the kind of research the U.S. should fund. We want the best and brightest minds from around the world working here to make breakthrough medical and scientific discoveries. Instead, President Trump’s effort to slash scientific investments is ceding our status as international leaders in science and technology to China and others. Applications for graduate student or postdoctoral positions in the United States has dropped sharply as students are applying for jobs abroad since President Trump took office. We can’t afford to cut NIH funding, cancel international student visas, or let fear and uncertainty threaten our innovation.  

On Thursday, I met with San Diego high school students participating in the Aaron Price Fellows Program. These young future leaders are in the final year of the program which teaches them how to be active citizens, care for their community, and help others. We discussed how what happens in Washington D.C., like funding for the sciences or our national debt, has major consequences for San Diego and their futures. I look forward to everything they do in the future.