Francis Collins blasts Trump administration\u2019s \u2018slash-and-burn\u2019 actions at science agencies
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Francis Collins, the former director of the National Institutes of Health, excoriated the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to upend federal scientific agencies on Wednesday, saying the logic behind the moves \u201cescapes any possible explanation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking on a panel about trust in science and scientific institutions, Collins also expressed a degree of regret for public health officials\u2019 failure to explain their own uncertainty and the fast-changing landscape during the Covid-19 pandemic. But he laid the blame for the current fear and unrest within U.S. scientific circles squarely at the feet of the Trump administration, criticizing it for canceling research grants, pulling back on efforts to wield mRNA vaccines as cancer therapies, and dismissing \u201cthousands of capable scientists\u201d from government agencies.<\/p>\n