STAND UP FOR SCIENCE: LOSS OF 10,000+ FEDERAL STEM Ph.D.S UNDERMINES U.S. SCIENTIFIC LEADERSHIP AND PUBLIC SAFETY.

WASHINGTON, DC, DC, UNITED STATES, January 30, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Stand Up For Science condemns the Trump Administration’s ongoing purge of federal scientific expertise following a new Science magazine analysis finding that 10,109 Ph.D.-trained experts in STEM and health roles left the federal government in 2025. Across 14 major agencies reviewed by Science, departures outpaced hiring by 11 to 1, resulting in a net loss of 4,224 STEM Ph.D.s and 106,636 years of federal service experience lost.

Stand Up For Science has warned for the past year that firings, forced or early retirements, terminated positions, and a hostile environment for evidence-based work could drive scientists out of government at scale. The data confirm the warning and underscore the damage already underway across science agencies, including at biomedical institutions overseen by the Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“This is what it looks like when you dismantle the humming brain of a nation,” said Colette Delawalla, Founder and CEO of Stand Up For Science. “These departures mean lost expertise, lost institutional memory, and lost capacity to innovate and to keep Americans healthy and safe. With RFK Jr. at the helm of key public health and biomedical institutions, the threat is not hypothetical. The damage to U.S. global scientific leadership is being done now, and rebuilding what has been hollowed out will take decades to fully recover.”

Stand Up For Science calls for immediate congressional action, including oversight hearings and whistleblower protections.

Delawalla is available for comment.

For more information, contact:
Miriam Bassi
Stand Up for Science
media@standupforscience.net

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Stand Up for Science is grassroots, Washington, D.C. based, non-profit organization mobilizing the fight for science and democracy. Stand Up for Science was formed in February 2025 in response to executive orders dismantling federal science agencies and undermining the American scientific ecosystem. On March 7th, Stand Up For Science mobilized over 50,000 people at 170+ events across the world on its first National Day of Action. Federal scientists across multiple agencies (NIH, EPA, NASA, FEMA) have chosen Stand Up for Science as the platform for their dissent.
Learn more at www.standupforscience.net

Miriam Bassi
Stand Up for Science
media@standupforscience.net