The "Lost Science" column of the New York Times recently focused on Jenny Carlson Donnelly, a UC Davis doctoral alumna who lost her job earlier this year as a Malaria Outbreak Emergency Advisor for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) due to Trump administration cuts.
USAID, the independent agency of the U.S. government that President John F. Kennedy established in 1961, is dismantled and no more. (See Center for Global Development update.)
We remember when Jenny received her doctorate in entomology, with a dedicated emphasis in the biology of vector-borne diseases, in 2015. She was a brilliant student with her sights set on a career targeting malaria. After earning her doctorate, she accepted a postdoctoral scholar position at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she continued her research on malaria mosquitoes.
She joined USAID in 2018. When she lost her USAID job, we lamented the loss to science and global public health in a Bug Squad blog (Feb. 27, 2025).
New York Times' science reporter Alexas Robles-Gil of "Lost Sciences" interviewed Jenny, now Dr. Donnelly. (Access link). The ongoing series focuses on "scientists who have lost their jobs or funding after cuts by the Trump administration."
USAID worked in 27 countries to prevent malaria. "USAID was the first agency to go down," Donnelly told the reporter. "I knew I was going to lose my job, but I didn’t know when or how. I was initially terminated as a probationary person in February, but because of incorrect paperwork and reinstatements, my termination date was July."
"For me, my career was over. I had spent years working up to that, and I would never again be able to do what I did as an entomologist there. It was just a complete loss. This research mattered because we were training people in each country to collect this data on their own. We invested a lot of money in building these insectaries or laboratories, and then it just suddenly stopped."
As Robles-Gil related: "She built her career as an entomologist believing that science and data could help save lives."
Donnelly, who now works in urology for Becton and Dickinson, recently posted on her Facebook account: "Grateful to the New York Times for this series and for documenting what is being lost in science and public health. While this piece centers on my experience, the real story is much bigger. It reflects the impact of the USAID shutdown on the communities we served, and on the partners, colleagues, and local teams who have been doing the hard, often invisible work on the ground for years. This is work that doesn’t make headlines when it’s happening, only when it’s gone.
"These stories help make visible the expertise, relationships, and trust that take decades to build, and only moments to dismantle. I’m thankful this reporting gives voice to the scientists and practitioners behind the data, and helps make visible what’s at stake when investment in public health and science falters."
The article has drawn widespread attention, as it should. Some of the Facebook comments:
- "Well deserved acknowledgment and attention on this issue and on you bc you are amazing!"
- "Great feature! Amazing work. I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this transition."
- "You are a superhero! Glad to see you and the whole medical community you represent is being seen and heard!
- "Great article, Jenny! Well said. Thank you for being our voice."
We agree. Thank you, Dr. Jenny Carlson Donnelly, for being "our voice."
As she told me tonight: "I think for me it’s just important that we keep telling our stories! Storytelling is sometimes all we have to do to make a difference, even if it’s just to not let people forget!!!!"
Cover image: Waving goodbye in Burundi. See Bug Squad blog of Feb. 27, 2025. (Photo by Jenny Carlson Donnelly)