Travel ban throws research, academic exchange into turmoil
BOSTON (AP) — Universities across the nation say President Donald Trump's ban on travelers from seven Muslim countries is disrupting vital research projects and academic exchanges in such fields as medicine, public health and engineering, with untold numbers of scholars blocked from entering the U.S.
Students in Knuckey's clinic have been working with a think tank in Yemen to explore the health consequences of the country's civil war, inviting scholars to lecture and planning a conference in New York this year.
Because of the travel ban, they are trying to move the event to Canada.
According to the National Institutes of Health, U.S. and Iranian researchers have teamed up to study cancer, heart disease, hepatitis and opiate addiction.
Many of the students and researchers here are now stuck in the U.S., afraid they won't be allowed back in if they leave to visit home or travel to academic conferences.
In response to the ban, thousands of academics abroad have signed an online petition boycotting academic conferences in the U.S. Some conferences are being pressured to relocate outside America.
"Allowing them to replace this country as the prime destination for the most talented students and researchers would cause irreparable damage and help them to achieve their goal of global leadership," he wrote.