Researcher Patrícia Rondó, coordinator of the Micronutrient Laboratory at the University of São Paulo’s School of Public Health, wasn’t surprised when she received an email last week from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The message announced that the Laboratory Quality Assurance Program, with which her lab has been affiliated, was going on an “indefinite hiatus” due to a lack of funding.
In fact, just days earlier, she had expressed concerns to colleagues about the possible end of the program, following budget cuts to public health announced by the Trump administration. For 25 years, USP’s Micronutrient Laboratory has been a partner in the CDC program, which provides external quality control for standards related to vitamins A, D, and E, folate, and inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein. The program connects 34 public health laboratories from various countries in the Global South.
“We have an internal standard to determine whether a sample has a low, medium, or high concentration of vitamin A. In this CDC program, we receive external standards that allow us to compare our results with those of other laboratories,” Rondó explained to Outra Saúde. At the end of each testing round, the CDC would compile a comparative map showing results from all the labs involved, helping improve methodology and promoting discussion among participants.
This exchange took place twice a year, in April and September. This April, everything proceeded normally – just days before the Trump administration announced the dismantling of parts of the CDC. Now, the program will be suspended indefinitely, and dozens of laboratories will lose this collaborative network, which, according to Rondó, will be difficult to rebuild without the centralized coordinating body in the US, largely due to limited resources. The CDC had offered this service “free of charge” – in exchange, of course, for using the data sent by laboratories in its own research.
A laboratory for research on child nutrition and chronic diseases
When Patrícia Rondó returned to Brazil after completing her doctorate in England and joined the University of São Paulo in 1997, she quickly realized that the institution lacked equipment for micronutrient analysis. Gradually, and with public investment, she began building a laboratory from scratch. “It started in a small space, in the basement of the School of Public Health, it used to be a dumping ground,” she recalls. Over time, the lab was equipped and expanded. In 2010, she brought on an important collaborator: Liania A. Luzia, a specialist technician at the Micronutrient Laboratory, who has since supported a long list of nutrition research projects.
Many of the lab’s studies are featured on its website. One explores the impact of vitamin A supplementation on the immune systems of preschool children. Another examines the concentrations of vitamin A, iron, zinc, and copper in breast milk collected from milk banks. Other projects focus on vitamin D levels in patients with obesity. All of this research is crucial for understanding child health in Brazil, as well as the link between micronutrient status and the rise of chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes.
As noted by Fiocruz’s Portal of Good Practices in Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health: “In children, vitamin A deficiency is one of the leading causes of preventable blindness and a major contributor to illness and death from infections, especially among the poorest populations.”
Rondó also led a related project examining babies’ nutritional status during pregnancy. The study found correlations between childhood obesity and both maternal genetics and environmental factors. Its novelty lies in assessing fetal body composition and its connection with the mother’s profile, moving beyond traditional metrics like birth weight and length.
The Micronutrient Laboratory operates within the same faculty where the concept of ultra-processed foods was first developed by researcher Carlos Monteiro, whose work linking these foods to the rise in non-communicable diseases has gained international recognition. Though increasingly adopted around the world, the concept has been attacked by the food industry, which profits from producing food with little to no nutritional value.
Science and politics in the age of Trump and denialism
“Far-right governments are trying to silence researchers, professors, and professionals who speak out. Criticism bothers them,” says Rondó. Earlier this month, the Trump administration fired thousands of employees from the US Department of Health and Human Services, citing “inefficiency.”
The layoffs affected researchers, scientists, clinicians, and senior management across key agencies. Among them was the CDC, which plays a crucial role in preventing diseases caused by infections, genetics, environmental factors, and more. According to AP News, the administration appeared to prioritize eliminating departments focused on non-infectious diseases, including programs addressing asthma, smoking, gun violence, climate change, and other major health risks.
There are already reports showing how US cuts to humanitarian aid are weakening healthcare worldwide. Rondó’s case illustrates that even the dismantling of US institutions can have ripple effects on scientists working in other countries. This raises a key question: how can national health research be protected from foreign political decisions?
Rondó believes universities – Brazilian ones included – must take clearer stances on the global rollback of science and public health in the context of the growth of the far right. “I think many people are afraid, maybe because they lived through the dictatorship, those years of lead,” she reflects. “And perhaps there’s also fear of taking a stand and jeopardizing research funding.” In the US, scientists and supporters have begun organizing in response. The “Stand Up for Science” movement launched in February, seeking to mobilize researchers and the public across. The initiative is now gaining international traction in solidarity with US scientists.
But for Brazilian researchers, who have faced this kind of problem before, Rondó believes the long-term solution lies in strengthening cooperation between universities in Latin America and other countries in the Global South, many of which still operate in isolation. She also points to BRICS nations as possible allies for building a stronger scientific landscape.
Originally written by Gabriela Leite and published in Portuguese on Outra Saúde. Lightly edited for length.
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