Top biomedical scientist Hu ‘Tony’ Ye leaves US for China after $8.3M NIH grant cuts — all you need to know

Having studied and worked in the US for several years, biomedical scientist Hu “Tony” Ye has reportedly left for China. Hu’s decision reportedly came after grant cuts totalling $8.3 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that had funded his research projects. As per the South China Morning Post, Hu, who had held the prestigious chair professor position at Tulane University in New Orleans, left to take up the position of the founding dean at the new school of biomedical engineering at Tsinghua University.

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Hu’s reaction

On 7 April, Hu had published an open letter on the Tulane University website, titled “Preserving life-saving research: the crucial impact of NIH funding on public health”, as reported by the South China Morning Post. “Now is the time to raise our voices, to protect our research and our future. If we miss this moment, we may never get another chance – no one will be spared,” Hu wrote in the letter, which he had posted to his LinkedIn profile.

“Proposed federal budget cuts could slash indirect cost reimbursements for NIH grants from 53% to 15%.”

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Hu’s works

It was reported that Hu had focused on the fast detection of viruses, bringing out various papers in journals and serving as the associate editor of the ACS Nano journal. The South China Morning Post reported that only months before Hu left the US, he had publicly talked about the freezes and cuts to NIH funding. He said a $3.7 million NIH grant impacted by the cuts had been allotted for the early detection of tuberculosis and HIV in children.

In addition, $3.1 million of NIH funding had been allocated to develop blood-based cancer detection technologies, and $1.5 million was designated to obtain state-of-the-art equipment to further disease detection, cancer research, and medical technology development, as reported by the South China Morning Post.

FAQs

What happened to biomedical scientist Hu “Tony” Ye?

Biomedical scientist Hu Ye reportedly left the US for China after cuts to US$8 million in grants.

Where has Hu Ye been appointed?

Hu Ye has reportedly been appointed founding dean at the new school of biomedical engineering at Tsinghua University.

Why did Hu Ye leave the US?

Hu Ye’s decision reportedly came after cuts to US$8.3 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).