During a time of rapid scientific progress, medical achievements can be easily overlooked. Breakthroughs are anticipated regularly, and 2025 provided them; for instance, successful trials of gene therapies for untreatable diseases inspired hope among scientists and the public. However, such positive developments were eclipsed by U.S. political decisions that have begun reversing public health advances rather than advancing them.

The White House and the nation’s primary health agency, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), undertook numerous unprecedented actions in core public health areas. They began the year by dismantling USAID, terminating programs that deliver assistance, including childhood vaccinations. The Administration subsequently reduced funding and staff at the National Institutes of Health, a leading global biomedical research institution that launched innovations such as mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and cancer immunotherapies. Simultaneously, despite no new data supporting such skepticism, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now revising its guidelines, which public health researchers warn could trigger infectious disease outbreaks. The deep impact of this year’s cutbacks will resonate for years.

Vaccines in the crosshairs

Many changes center on the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda and vaccine skepticism promoted by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a long-time vaccine doubter. In spring, HHS slashed funding for research into new mRNA vaccines, and Kennedy also declared that the CDC would cease recommending annual COVID vaccines for most Americans, prompting some states to maintain recommendations for residents and cover the costs.

In June, Kennedy dismissed advisory committee members and replaced them with individuals who question vaccine safety, and in August, President Trump dismissed the CDC’s newly appointed director, Susan Monarez, when she resisted these changes.
The Administration also revived a previously disbanded task force to re-examine childhood vaccine safety, despite data confirming the vaccines’ safety. By year-end, the HHS website was modified to state that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim.”

Threats to future progress

Public health experts are actively resisting, pointing to decades of robust scientific evidence demonstrating vaccine safety and the absence of any autism link. The foundation of such evidence—not only regarding vaccines but across all medical fields—is NIH-funded scientific research. When this foundation’s resources are diminished and scientific trust erodes, what hangs in the balance is the scientific knowledge underpinning many U.S. medical decisions and the pipeline of innovative disease treatments. Cancer immunotherapies that have saved countless lives originated with NIH funding, as did several gene therapies that reported positive results this year in trials, a study, and research programs. These and other therapies could eventually cure patients.

Experts worry that without the foundational research enabling such advances, the flow of innovative treatments that could save lives and reduce healthcare costs may dwindle to a trickle in future years. And as longevity increases, the need for protective therapies that scientists have yet to imagine may become more critical than ever.