STAT+: Harvard public health school confronts severe financial crisis, seeks corporate sponsors

Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health is currently experiencing a seismic shift as it prepares for a potential loss of federal research funding, which could amount to approximately $100 million annually—or nearly half of its current budget. This looming financial crisis has prompted the institution to implement drastic measures, including appealing to private sector corporations for support in underwriting the tuition of its PhD candidates.

In response to this pressing challenge, the Chan School has already made significant cuts, laying off an undisclosed number of employees, reducing its cohort of PhD students by almost 50%, and canceling various research initiatives. This string of decisions marks a sobering adaptation to the reality that federal investment in public health is diminishing.

“Our priority is to streamline spending throughout the school while focusing our limited resources on our most crucial research areas,” stated Andrea Baccarelli, who serves as the dean of faculty at the Chan School and has a notable background in environmental health research. “This has been a difficult path for us, necessitating the difficult choice to let go of valued colleagues and halt some significant scientific endeavors, but it is a necessary responsibility we must undertake.”