Reshaping Harvard Chan School

To the Harvard Chan community,

As I shared at the Town Hall yesterday, the government has moved to terminate nearly all direct federal grants at Harvard Chan School. This afternoon, principal investigators across the School received notifications that their vital projects to protect and promote public health had been canceled. This mass wave, affecting the majority of our federal awards, comes on top of individual actions terminating more than two dozen other federal grants in the past few months. We expect all remaining direct federal grants to be terminated in the coming weeks.

This is a painful blow to our research impact, our capacity to sustain our teams, and the health and well-being of populations across the U.S. and around the world.

With grant terminations unfolding across the University, President Alan Garber and Provost John Manning reaffirmed the vital importance of research at Harvard in an email yesterday afternoon. I was pleased to see that they committed $250 million in central funding to support research across the University during this challenging period. This support will be critical, and we are working closely with our University colleagues to understand the resources that will be available to Harvard Chan School.

As I have said often, this is not business as usual. The funding from the University cannot be used to maintain the status quo, because our partnership with the federal government—a partnership that has been foundational to our research mission for eight decades—has shifted dramatically.

In close collaboration with leadership from across the School, my team has started on the hard work of reshaping Harvard Chan School for this new reality. We will continue to move that work forward in the coming months, using all available resources to help us make the necessary transition to a more sustainable research enterprise.

The challenges we face are undeniable. There are also new opportunities. This will not be an easy road, but I am confident that we will emerge with a clear strategy to achieve our research and educational missions while maintaining our unwavering commitment to excellence and impact.

We all come into public health out of a deep desire to leverage outstanding research and education to create a healthier world—a world where everyone can thrive. In this time of uncertainty, when so many of us are experiencing stress, anxiety, and sorrow, I urge you to continue to direct the energy and compassion that brought you into this field toward your community. Take care of yourselves and take care of one another. We must help one another through, so that together we can chart a successful path forward.

Even—especially—on the most difficult of days, I am grateful to be part of this outstanding community. I am grateful for all of you.

Andrea

Andrea Baccarelli, MD, PhD
Dean of the Faculty