Significant reductions in U.S. government funding for scientific research under the Trump administration could mean potential setbacks in advancements, public health initiatives, and the nation's overall scientific competitiveness, reports the New York Times.

Thousands of scientists in the U.S. have lost their jobs or grants since the Trump administration cut billions of dollars in federal funding to scientific research. And governments and universities around the world want to hire them.

Since World War II, the U.S. has invested huge amounts of money in scientific research conducted at independent universities and federal agencies. That funding helped the U.S. to become the world's leading scientific power — and has led to the invention of cell phones and the internet as well as new ways to treat cancer, heart disease and strokes, noted Holden Thorp, editor-in-chief of the journal Science.

But today that system is being shaken.

Since President Donald Trump took office in January, his administration has pointed to what it calls waste and inefficiency in federal science spending and made major cuts to staff levels and grant funding at the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, NASA and other agencies, as well as slashing research dollars that flow to some private universities.

"If things continue as they are, American science is ruined," David W. Hogg, a professor of physics and data science at New York University, told the Times.

"If it becomes impossible to work with non-U.S. scientists," he said, "it would basically render the kinds of research that I do impossible."

The White House budget proposal for next year calls to cut the NIH budget by roughly 40% and the National Science Foundation's by 55%.

White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the administration is "spending its first few months reviewing the previous administration's projects, identifying waste, and realigning our research spending to match the American people's priorities and continue our innovative dominance."

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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