Event

12:00 PM CDT

Darla P. Henderson, PhD

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Program Overview

In May 2026, the White House Office of Management and Budget proposed an overhaul of federal grant rules that would change how awards are made, managed, how funding can be used, and more. The proposal is the most significant rewrite of federal grant rules (2 CFR Part 200) in more than a decade, and it would apply to every federal award, including NIH and NSF grants. Darla Henderson, PhD, Executive Director and CEO of FASEB, will explain what’s on the table and how FASEB has responded. The proposed changes would make the Uniform Guidance binding regulation, let agencies end multi-year awards that no longer fit shifting administration priorities, and add an additional layer of political-appointee sign-off on top of merit review. The proposed rule would also restrict international collaboration and require pre-approval before grant funds can be used to attend conferences, cover publication charges, or participate in society activities. She’ll speak to the potential impact of the rule, discuss how some agencies are preemptively moving to implement large portions of the rule in spite of a carve-out in the latest continuing resolution, tell you where the rule stands, and discuss what we can do to continue to influence this process.

Darla P. Henderson, PhD

Darla P. Henderson, PhD is the Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). FASEB is a federation of 21 scholarly societies spanning the biological and biomedical sciences representing over 100,000 scientists. FASEB is a leading voice in science policy and advocacy, has trusted journals program, holds 40 conferences annually, and provides valuable member services to societies. In 2025, Darla led both the launch of BioCore, LLC, a multi-society scholarly publishing collaborative and a taskforce report that focused on Generative AI in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences with recommendations for policy makers, federal agencies, research and educational institutions, corporations, and scholarly societies. Prior to joining FASEB, Darla held roles at John Wiley & Sons and the American Chemical Society, where she led both the general and multidisciplinary portfolio and launched and led five successful open access programs. She holds a PhD in biological chemistry from Duke University.