logo
New friction surfaces over replicating research

New friction surfaces over replicating research

Axios24-03-2025
The Trump administration wants to spend more federal dollars replicating medical research. A key question will be which studies get repeated and, with limited resources, at what expense.
Why it matters: Many findings can't be replicated — a problem scientists say needs to be addressed. But it could also consume increasingly scarce resources as the administration cuts spending and freezes federal grants.
And some warn repeating accepted studies into how diseases originate or drugs work could undermine science for political gain.
"We should ask questions, ensure reproducibility, and grow our evidence base with replication," David Higgins, a practicing pediatrician and health services researcher at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, said in an email.
But that "requires considering many factors," he adds.
Catch up quick: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and National Institutes of Health director nominee Jay Bhattacharya say they want to make replication a pillar of what the institutes do, pointing to fraud in the research community.
"The gold standard means real scientific research with replication of studies, which very rarely happens now at NIH," Kennedy said during a Senate confirmation hearing in January.
"We should be giving at least 20% of the NIH budgets to replication," he added, citing a landmark paper on Alzheimer's disease that was later found to contain doctored images, calling many subsequent studies into question.
In one early sign of the administration's priorities, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention is reportedly planning a broad study into connections between vaccines and autism, despite substantial evidence disproving any link.
NIH last year launched a program that invited researchers to nominate their own studies for replication — and promised up to $50,000 plus overhead costs to contract with an outside organization to repeat the work, according to Science. Interest was "modest," the outlet reported.
What they're saying: "CDC will leave no stone unturned in its mission to figure out what exactly is happening" with the increase in autism cases in the U.S., HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told Axios in an email. "The American people expect high quality research and transparency and that is what CDC will deliver."
The big picture: Replication is "expensive, time-consuming and draws resources from other work but if you're interested in improving science, the scientific record and knowledge, it needs to be applied equally and universally," says Ivan Oransky, who teaches journalism at New York University and is a co-founder of Retraction Watch, which tracks withdrawals of scientific papers,
"In a world of endless resources, you should replicate every study," Oransky says.
But resources are limited and the cost of doing science has "vastly outpaced inflation," he says.
The White House already is trying to cut billions of dollars in NIH grants for research overhead at universities and medical research centers. The Trump administration has said those savings could be reallocated directly to research. But scientists and university administrators say those indirect costs are crucial for the infrastructure that enables research.
Zoom in: Reports that the CDC will conduct a new large-scale study to look into already unsupported claims of a link between autism and vaccines are raising concern about political influence. Kennedy has for years repeated the debunked theory.
"We have already done that many times over. It wastes valuable resources to revisit the same question instead of using them to address critical health challenges," Higgins said.
"More than 20 major studies involving over 10 million children across multiple countries, populations, and decades have found that there is no link between vaccines and autism," according to a new review of studies by Higgins and others.
Bhattacharya said during his Senate confirmation hearing that he doesn't "generally believe that there is a link" and doesn't want "to disprove a negative" but added that another study might help to convince people who are vaccine hesitant.
But Higgins says "reexamining settled questions that have already been repeated, replicated, and tested many times is not healthy skepticism; it's cynicism and science denial."
Research, like other investments, can be set on a spectrum of risk, says Brian Nosek, executive director of the Center for Open Science, a nonprofit that supports replication studies, and a psychology professor at the University of Virginia.
On the low-risk end is replicating studies as closely as one can to verify and validate their results. Nosek says "an investment on the order of single digits of the percent of the budget" at NIH could be helpful.
In the middle is more incremental science that comprises the bulk of research — and that has drawn the ire of politicians who characterize it as wasteful. "Incrementalism is used pejoratively and I think that is insanity for how science actually makes progress," Nosek says.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is high-risk — and potentially high-reward — research that "is open-ended and sometimes looks frivolous and impossible" but in some cases may be ultimately groundbreaking, says Stuart Buck, executive director of the Good Science Project.
Between the lines: The deeper issue underlying debates about replication and where science funding should be directed is that scientists have an incentive to build on existing studies, because it's likelier to allow them to publish often, attract more funding and advance their careers.
"Big bureaucracies in science tend to fund consensus opinion ... and to not be interested in replication and bias against groundbreaking ideas," Buck says.
Bhattacharya has said "a tentativeness to focus on the big ideas" and replicability are among the problems at NIH he'll address if confirmed, and that "no matter what the budget is, I want to reform it in that direction."
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

NASA slashing over 20 percent of workforce
NASA slashing over 20 percent of workforce

The Hill

time18 minutes ago

  • The Hill

NASA slashing over 20 percent of workforce

NASA is slashing nearly more than 20 percent of its workforce as part of President Trump's efforts to downsize the federal government since returning to the White House. Nearly 4,000 workers have requested to depart the space agency through two rounds of the deferred resignation program. The deadline for the program was Friday at midnight. In the first round, about 870 employees have applied to leave and approximately another 3,000 workers did so in the second round — downsizing the workforce from 18,000 to around 14,000 people, NASA told The Hill's sister network NewsNation. The agency said the total number also includes the 500 workers who were lost due to normal attrition. 'Safety remains a top priority for our agency as we balance the need to become a more streamlined and more efficient organization and work to ensure we remain fully capable of pursuing a Golden Era of exploration and innovation, including to the Moon and Mars,' a NASA spokesperson said in a statement. A budget proposal from the White House, released in May, would reduce NASA's overall budget by 24 percent. The topline number would drop from $24 billion to $18 billion. Over 360 NASA employees sent a letter to their employer earlier this month, urging them not to make deep cuts, warning it will have 'dire' consequences. 'We are compelled to speak up when our leadership prioritizes political momentum over human safety, scientific advancement, and efficient use of public resources,' the workers wrote. 'These cuts are arbitrary and have been enacted in defiance of congressional appropriations law.' The deferred resignation program was instituted throughout the federal government by Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to help slash the size of the federal workforce and cut down on costs, waste, fraud and abuse. NASA also experienced turbulence earlier this year as the president's first pick for the agency's administrator, tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, was pulled in late May, days before he was set for a confirmation vote. Shortly after, Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk — who was the chief adviser for DOGE before he departed the White House — had a public falling out. Trump later tapped Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to be the interim NASA administrator, saying earlier this month that the former Wisconsin lawmaker is doing a 'TREMENDOUS job in handling our Country's Transportation Affairs, including creating a state-of-the-art Air Traffic Control systems, while at the same time rebuilding our roads and bridges, making them efficient, and beautiful, again.'

RFK Jr. is waging a war against ultra-processed foods. Will almond milk be canceled?
RFK Jr. is waging a war against ultra-processed foods. Will almond milk be canceled?

USA Today

timean hour ago

  • USA Today

RFK Jr. is waging a war against ultra-processed foods. Will almond milk be canceled?

Ultra-processed foods are undergoing increased scrutiny as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and his supporters blame these often tasty snacks for contributing to chronic diseases in the U.S. But what is ultra-processed food? There still isn't a universal definition. While many ice creams, chips and sodas are considered ultra-processed, there's also a wide array of other foods that can be included in a healthy diet that fall into the same category, such as tofu, some canned fruits and vegetables, protein bars, cereals and nut milks. 'These are all quite processed and some of them can be classified as ultra-processed foods but because of their nutrient profiles, they might be better for us and not associated with the worst health outcomes,' said Michele Polacsek, professor of public health at the University of New England and an expert on promoting healthy food choices. Does that mean these foods will be targeted, too? Probably not, said Marion Nestle, a nutrition expert and emeritus professor at New York University. 'That would be impossible because of the way that Americans eat,' she said, as research shows over 70% of American calories come from ultra-processed foods. Ultra-processed foods, or UPFs, are foods that have been made by food companies using manufactured ingredients, rather than actual foods. If you've ever taken a look at some food labels, you may not recognize many of the ingredients listed. These are likely ultra-processed ingredients that are used to make food "taste better, look better and last longer on the shelf," Nestle said. Research has shown UPFs replace healthier foods and encourage people to eat more calories, Nestle said. Ultra-processed foods have been linked to about 30 health conditions, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers and mental health disorders, according to a 2024 study published in the British Medical Journal. In May, Kennedy and his 'Make America Healthy Again' commission targeted ultra-processed foods in a 69-page report. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the administration is seeking information and data to help develop an official definition for ultra-processed foods, according to a July 23 statement. While it's a good first step, Polacsek said not all UPFs are the same and there isn't enough data to determine which ingredients or processes in packaged foods lead to negative health outcomes. 'We don't have all the evidence we need,' she said. 'We need a lot more research on this.' It would be a mistake to create policy based on the data available on ultra-processed foods, Polacsek said. But if the administration makes policy decisions based on a universal definition, she hopes agencies will also allocate funding to research how it's impacting public health and the food industry. Is Chick-fil-A healthy? Fast-food chain named one of the least nutritious in America In the meantime, Nestle recommends minimizing the amount of ultra-processed foods you eat but also reminds consumers that some contain nutrients that can be incorporated into a healthy diet. In a 2023 study, researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture led a study that showed how it was possible to build a healthy diet with 91% of the calories coming from ultra-processed foods. However, study authors noted the diet was particularly high in sodium and didn't contain enough whole grains. 'The basic principle of healthy eating is variety,' Nestle said. 'If you eat a lot of different kinds of food, and most of them are minimally processed, you're doing fine.' 'Food is one of life's greatest pleasures, it's really important to enjoy what you eat.' Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@

China grapples with outbreak of deadly mosquito-borne virus
China grapples with outbreak of deadly mosquito-borne virus

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

China grapples with outbreak of deadly mosquito-borne virus

A significant outbreak of chikungunya, a mosquito-borne infection, is sweeping through southern China, with thousands of cases now confirmed. The city of Foshan in Guangdong province has been particularly hard-hit, with reported cases of chikungunya fever soaring to 4,014 by Friday. This marks a rapid escalation since authorities began tracking the infection just two weeks prior, according to public records from local health departments. Sun Yang, deputy director of the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, described the outbreak as "quite severe" during a news conference in Foshan on Wednesday. The World Health Organisation states that chikungunya, transmitted by infected mosquito bites, typically causes fever and severe joint pain, though fatalities are uncommon. In response, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention has issued advisories for preventing both chikungunya and dengue fever, another mosquito-borne illness. Recommendations include using physical barriers like screen doors and mosquito nets, alongside applying repellent to exposed skin. The CDC also noted the epidemic was "imported," without disclosing its origin. The Chinese agency also called for people who have symptoms like fever, rash and joint pain to see a doctor. Shunde district in Foshan, where 90 per cent of the cases are located, is famous for its Cantonese food, and sees many visitors each year. Patients who tested positive for chikungunya fever stayed in hospital beds covered by mosquito nets, according to photos shown on state-run broadcaster CCTV. Local media reports said on Thursday that local authorities had almost doubled the number of mosquito-proof isolation beds to 7,220 to meet the growing demand. Authorities in Guangdong are urging residents to make sure there's no standing water in their homes, such as in flowerpots, coffee machines or spare bottles. The Health Commission in Foshan stated on Thursday that a fine of up to 10,000 yuan ($1,400) could be applied if violations are found. The Beijing CDC said on Tuesday that the city occasionally experiences imported cases of chikungunya fever. There are two chikungunya vaccines that have received regulatory approvals in several countries and/or have been recommended for use in populations at risk, but the vaccines are neither widely available nor in widespread use, according to WHO. China had its first chikungunya spike in 2010 with 253 cases in Dongguan, a nearby city in the same province, according to the Guangdong provincial CDC. Several cases were found in years since then, but they weren't widespread. The country's first case was imported in 1987, according to research papers and media reports.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store