Dear Members of the HMS Quad Community:

As we come to the end of another challenging week, I want to acknowledge the difficulties our Quad community has had to confront as we learned that the majority of Harvard’s active, direct federal research grants have now been terminated.

Many of you have shared with me how demoralizing and unfair it feels to receive these written notices. One PI described receiving a termination notice for a grant he has had for 27 years as a “gut punch.” I know each of you has poured your heart and soul into your research, answering fundamental questions that unlock scientific mysteries and often inform lifesaving and life-changing therapeutic interventions. For many, this is your life’s work.

Please know that your work remains important and highly valuable. Every one of you — from the faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and technicians in our labs to the grant managers, administrators, and support staff who all contribute to our mission — should be celebrated and commended for your commitment and contributions to the field of science for the benefit of humanity. Harvard Medical School and most of the general public appreciate what you do.

As Harvard President Alan Garber and Provost John Manning wrote in their email Wednesday, the University is working closely with Harvard’s schools to provide support to sustain our research activities. The University is initially dedicating $250 million for the coming year to complement School-based resources and strategies to support research affected by these recent grant suspensions and cancellations.

I am meeting regularly and working closely with University leaders, the chairs of our preclinical departments, my leadership team — especially Executive Dean for Administration Lisa Muto and CFO Julie Joncas — and many other School leaders to formulate a plan for how we will distribute these central funds across our research departments.

I ask for your patience as we work on this plan and consider the many variables that are impacting our School finances, and the many individual nuances of each laboratory, core, and program. We will be sharing details on an ongoing basis. I anticipate that we will make some mistakes that we will have to later revise. Please know that we are making our best earnest effort to support as much research activity as reasonably possible.

Our community has already responded to the looming challenges. I want to thank all academic and administrative departments and units across the School for your work to make permanent reductions to your budgets beginning with the FY26 fiscal year. This allowed us to achieve our goal of a 15% reduction in HMS’s discretionary spending. I know this work was not easy and required leaders to make very difficult decisions for their departments and units.

As we continue to face this deeply uncertain and unsettling time, I want to remind you to please take care of yourselves and one another. The summer months are approaching, and I encourage you to take your well-earned vacation time and access the many safety and well-being resources Harvard offers.

One of the hallmarks of our community is the compassion, care, and respect we show to one another. We are all in this together. We need and appreciate community spirit now more than ever.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University