Laurel Oldach

Silver Spring

Associate Editor at C&EN

Science writer on the biochemistry and instrumentation beat for C&EN (I don't speak for ACS). @[email protected], @LaurelOldach in the sky

Featured in: Favicon

acs.org (+1) Favicon

jbc.org

asbmb.org

Articles

How will FDA changes reshape drug approval in 2025 and beyond?

3 weeks ago | cen.acs.org | Laurel Oldach

Six weeks after a reduction in force (RIF) at the US Food and Drug Administration removed thousands of workers, signs are emerging about how the agency's approach to drug approval may change. The 20% RIF on April 1, which excluded drug, device, and food reviewers and inspectors, nonetheless sparked concern and speculation across the pharmaceutical industry.
Proposed White House budget would slash science funding

1 month ago | cen.acs.org | Krystal Vasquez |Laurel Oldach |Britt E. Erickson |Fionna Samuels

US president Donald J. Trump has proposed massive cuts to federal science programs for fiscal year 2026, which runs from Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2026. The proposal, also referred to as the "skinny" budget because it provides less detail than a full budget request, is in line with Trump's calls during his first term as president to slash funding from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other US federal agencies.
White House proposes to slash science spending

1 month ago | pubs.acs.org | Krystal Vasquez |Laurel Oldach |Britt E. Erickson |Fionna Samuels

Monday, May 12, 2025 Please be aware that pubs.acs.org is undergoing maintenance from Saturday February 1 to Monday Febraury 3, that may have an impact on your experience. During this time, you may not be able to access certain features like login, purchasing single articles, saving searches or running existing saved searches, modifying your e-Alert preferences, or accessing Librarian administrative functions. We appreciate your patience as we continue to improve the ACS Publications platform.
FDA job cuts hinder drug safety monitoring

1 month ago | cen.acs.org | Laurel Oldach

US Food and Drug Administration layoffs appear to be affecting programs that track drug safety. Fired workers from the Division of Drug Information, which conducts safety monitoring, say the DDI team lost between 75% and 90% of its roughly 50-person staff in the FDA's April 1 reduction in force. "There's a handful of people desperately keeping the lights on," says one fired employee, who like their former colleagues spoke to C&EN on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions.
Drug discovery à la modality

1 month ago | cen.acs.org | Laurel Oldach

Chemists and chemical biologists just keep dreaming up new ways to interfere with biomolecules. That research frequently leads to promising potential medicines, and there are more and more flavors of molecules at some stage of clinical or preclinical investigation. How do drug hunters choose between them? Twenty years ago, monoclonal antibodies were just emerging as a promising type of therapy on the strength of their selective binding to highly specific molecular motifs.
Science and engineering students are hit as US revokes visas

1 month ago | cen.acs.org | Krystal Vasquez |Laurel Oldach

A graduate student in chemical engineering at North Carolina State University is one of an uncertain but apparently growing number of international students in the US on visas that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has abruptly revoked. The chemical engineer, one of two Saudi nationals attending NC State whose visas were revoked last month, left the country after learning of their change in immigration status, according to the Raleigh News and Observer.
Chemistry majors, set to graduate in May, stress over their futures

2 months ago | cen.acs.org | Laurel Oldach |Krystal Vasquez |Rowan Walrath

She was excited when the acceptance letter came in January, from a research university in a major East Coast city. "In my brain, I was like, 'Yeah, this is it,' " the student tells C&EN. But in February, when she put together all the offers she had, she began to feel nervous. The offer letter from the research university that was her first choice had promised a contract to follow, but it hadn't yet arrived.
US Department of Health and Human Services to lay off 10,000 employees

2 months ago | cen.acs.org | Rowan Walrath |Laurel Oldach

The largest federal health agency in the US is slated to shrink significantly through workforce cuts and department consolidations. US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a video statement posted to X Thursday morning that his agency would reduce headcount from 82,000 employees to 62,000 and consolidate 28 divisions into 15.
Chemistry majors, set to graduate in May, stress over their futures

2 months ago | cen.acs.org | Laurel Oldach |Krystal Vasquez |Rowan Walrath

She was excited when the acceptance letter came in January, from a research university in a major East Coast city. "In my brain, I was like, 'Yeah, this is it,' " the student tells C&EN. But in February, when she put together all the offers she had, she began to feel nervous. The offer letter from the research university that was her first choice had promised a contract to follow, but it hadn't yet arrived.
Instrument vendors' outlook at Pittcon is partly cloudy

Mar 7, 2025 | cen.acs.org | Laurel Oldach

Pittcon, an analytical instrument conference and trade show, met in Boston this week. The event convenes scientists and vendors in the biopharmaceutical, chemical manufacturing, oil and gas, water quality, and food and beverage industries, along with service providers that cross industries, such as vendors of lab furniture and software. At the same time as the conference, a trade war between the US and its largest trading partners, China, Canada and Mexico, began to unfold.