I listened to an NPR podcast yesterday, and I’m still thinking about Caleb, Taco, and Broccoli. You can hear it here: NPR Transcript.
The story was about the administration’s freeze on federal research funding for universities. On paper, that might sound like a budget issue. But in practice, it’s people’s lives and work being disrupted — professors, students, staff. And it also impacts people who need the innovations that this research provides. The podcast connects with a four year old named Caleb who is waiting for a pediatric heart pump implant. This device is currently put on hold because of frozen research funding. Meanwhile, Caleb has to use a VAD, an artificial heart that has to be plugged in throughout the day. Caleb has named his VAD “Taco,” and his pole with blood-thinning medicine “Broccoli.”
Hearing those names reminds me that research is never just numbers on a page. It’s real people, with real dreams, trying to make real progress. And policies like this freeze slow down labs (significant in itself) but they also they ripple outward into healthcare, climate solutions, equity, and opportunity.
I keep wondering: How many Calebs are stalled with Tacos and Broccolis right now? And how can we speak up to make sure research and discovery keep moving forward?
Smuggling Grace 