Jan. 28—An order by the Trump administration to pause health communications and other disruptions at federal health agencies are causing concern in Maine’s scientific community.

Directives from the new administration include a ban on health agency communications through at least the end of January.

It’s not clear how long the ban will remain in place after this month but the order appears intended to give the new leadership time to assume office and approve information releases. Emergency communication were exempt from the order.

National news reports also said travel and meetings at the National Institutes of Health were being canceled or postponed, and purchases halted for research supplies, although STAT News reported on Monday afternoon that perhaps some of those restrictions were being eased.

The Jackson Laboratory, a Bar Harbor-based research institute that works closely with the National Institutes of Health and employs about 3,000 people globally, including and about 1,718 in Maine, is “closely monitoring” the situation.

Cara McDonough, spokesperson for Jackson Lab, said in a written statement that the lab is working to “assess its potential impact on our research and the broader scientific community.”

“Any pause or interruption in activities at federal health agencies will disrupt the momentum behind lifesaving research, jeopardizes jobs and creates considerable anxiety within the scientific community as well as within communities hoping to benefit directly from the research these federal health groups steward. We are all hoping for a rapid return to productive activities,” McDonough said in a statement.

Jackson Lab is a leader in biomedical research, and among its research areas is “genomic solutions to disease” including cancer, autoimmune diseases, neuroscience and neurodegenerative diseases, stem cells and regenerative medicine.

MaineHealth, the parent organization of the MaineHealth Institute for Research in Scarborough, which has studied ticks, Lyme disease and COVID-19, amongst other research areas, would also experience impacts if there are continued disruptions a the federal level.

“MaineHealth has been monitoring the president’s recent executive order pausing external communication from the Department of Health and Human Services,” said John Porter, a MaineHealth spokesperson, in a written statement.

Officials with U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King indicated that the senators were closely following the developments, but did not yet have any comment on the evolving situation.

The pause in communication comes as President Trump is attempting to get Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — an anti-vaccine activist who has made numerous false claims about vaccines — confirmed by the Senate to be the next Health and Human Services secretary. Hearings in the Senate are underway this week.

Kennedy is a controversial choice in the medical community, and groups including the American Public Health Association have urged the Senate to reject his nomination.

The Trump Administration’s pause on communications is also affecting officials at the University of Southern Maine, which was awarded more than $21 million in a federal grant last year to establish a National Tribal Child Welfare Center for Innovation and Advancement. The program is designed to provide Native American and Alaska Native communities with culturally appropriate tools and methods to meet federal child welfare requirements. That grant included nearly $5 million in first-year funding.

The center is slated to launch in January, according to its Facebook page and an announcement by the university system last year. But that launch may be muddled by the U.S. DHHS pause on communication.

Sarah Nelson, project director at the new center, said in an email last week that the center “received guidance from the new administration” not to release any new communications about the program.

“This is all the information we’ve been given; I anticipate we will be provided strict guidance around language we can use to describe our work,” Nelson said.

Staff writer Daniel Kool contributed to this story.

Copy the Story Link