Everyone thought the hard part was over. I had received an NIDCD (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) predoctoral diversity fellowship and was waiting for my second-year renewal as I entered the final year of my PhD. I could finally focus on finishing my dissertation and securing a postdoc. Then I received the news.
It wasn't in NIH's mostly blank email, on the Notice of Award's cover page, or even in the form letter. Buried in the last paragraph of page five was a simple sentence: “This project is terminated effective 05/31/2025."
I still don't know whether it was my research, studying the neural and cognitive basis of word learning in autistic and non-autistic adults to design more effective language interventions across the lifespan, or the fact that I held a diversity fellowship rather than a standard F31. What I did know was that I had lost my stipend in the middle of a scientific funding crisis.
Frankly, I panicked.
The emotional fallout was familiar. Researchers learn to navigate rejected papers and proposals. But the practical fallout was different. I could revise a manuscript or rewrite a proposal. I couldn't rewrite the fact that, in less than 10 days, my stipend would disappear.
My PI, department, and I explored every possible option. We could maybe piece together funding for the summer, but the fall remained uncertain, and so did everything after that. My focus shifted from my dissertation, postdoctoral search, and final data collection to simply figuring out how I would stay funded.
Then our research community stepped in.
My PI and department worked tirelessly to find temporary solutions and encouraged me to keep moving forward with my dissertation. My NIH program officer remembered my situation months later and reached out with a possible solution: the ASHFoundation's Need-Based Emergency Funding Grant.
That support changed everything. The ASHFoundation recognized the crisis, created funding to address it, and affirmed that both my research and I mattered. Their investment meant I could stay focused on finishing my degree instead of wondering how I would pay my bills.
I successfully defended my dissertation. For the final three months leading up to that milestone, the ASHFoundation fully funded my stipend. Before that, my department, administration, and PI spent nearly a year finding every possible way to keep my research moving.
The safety nets we need during crises like these are not built into the system. They are woven by people who choose to invest in one another. The ASHFoundation became one of those safety nets for me, ensuring I could finish the work I had set out to do. That generosity is something I will carry with me throughout my career.
Katherine Trice, Ph.D. Previously at Northeastern University; currently at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2025 recipient of ASHFoundation Need-Based Emergency Funding