Impact of federal funding cuts to HIV/AIDS research

By Racquel Stephen, Megan Mack, Veronica Volk, Elissa Orlando, Julie Williams

Published June 13, 2025 at 5:15 PM EDT

Three people wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a man left has short grey hair and is wearing a white and grey plaid button-down shirt; a man center is bald with a grey beard and is wearing a blue and white striped button-down shirt; a woman right has short blonde hair and is wearing a blue and red floral print top. — Michael Keefer and Harold Smith with guest host Racquel Stephen on "Connections" on Friday, June 13, 2025

A smiling woman with short blonde hair sits at a desk in front of a microphone wearing a gold necklace and green and white patterned dress. — Racquel Stephen guest hosting "Connections with Evan Dawson"

Changes at the federal level are expected to have major effects on medical research. Recently on this program, we discussed how clinicians expect possible funding cuts to affect cancer research.

This hour, we focus on HIV research. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that the fiscal year 2026 budget request for domestic HIV programs is a 35% decline compared to the previous fiscal year.

What does that mean for HIV research in our region? And how could it affect patients? Guest host Racquel Stephen addresses those questions with local experts.

In studio:

Michael Keefer, M.D., principal investigator at the Rochester Victory Alliance; and professor in the Departments of Medicine and Infectious Diseases and in the Center for Community Health and Prevention at the University of Rochester Medical Center
Harold Smith, Ph.D. founder, CEO, and president of Oyagen, Inc.; and professor emeritus of biochemistry and biophysics at the University Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry