72+ current and former NIH Workers Author Bethesda Declaration: One Year Later, Concerns About the State of Scientific Research Continue
For Immediate Release
Bethesda Declaration: One Year Later
Concerns About the State of Scientific Research Continue
On Tuesday, June 9, 2026, at 9:00AM, on the Anniversary of the Bethesda Declaration, Bethesda Declaration Organizers release "Bethesda Declaration: One Year Later" a document outlining the damage caused to the NIH and the Nation’s scientific infrastructure by this Administration’s harmful policies. In the wake of a proposed Office of Management and Budget rule that would codify the damaging policies of the past 18 months, this review provides an in-depth view of the damage caused by such policies.
This account is an update and expansion of the concerns that were stated in the June 9, 2025, Bethesda Declaration, an open letter to NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD. The Declaration raised five concerns about the actions taken in the first six months of the Administration, and was signed by more than 600 NIH staff and 32,000 external scientists, patients, and members of the general public.
Since the release of the Bethesda Declaration, the status of NIH has only worsened. The Bethesda Declaration: One Year Later provides evidence that current NIH policies continue to cause havoc in the US scientific enterprise, impeding the NIH mission and risking public health. Specifically, the report details how each of these concerns continues to impact NIH:
Concern 1: An anti-science agenda is disrupting research for health advances and cures
Concern 2: Discriminatory policies are worsening disparities
Concern 3: Ignoring ethical standards has put research participants and the public at risk
Concern 4: An unstable research environment is undermining scientific advances and public trust
Concern 5: Lost critical expertise is hindering the NIH mission
Concern 6: Changing of policies without staff input is creating foreseeable damage
Concern 7: Cumbersome and shifting processes are wasting resources and harming health
Concern 8: Disruption of global research is endangering people in the United States and around the world
Concern 9: A culture of fear and low morale is eroding scientific integrity
To read the whole report please visit: www.27unihted.org/bethesda-declaration-one-year-later on 27 UNIHTED’s website. 27 UNIHTED is the NIH Alumni Action Organization, composed of former NIH workers and community allies in their personal capacities supporting the NIH workforce and advocating for the future of biomedical research.
For media inquiries or to speak with current and former NIH workers that authored the report, please contact media@27unihted.org
Thank you,
Media team 27 UNIHTED