ScienceFebruary 3, 2026

A Scientist Speaks Out: The Norton Case and Public Science

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② Start Lesson

Key Vocabulary

leave/liːv/

time away from work

"She was put on leave from her job."

research/rɪˈsɜːr.tʃ/

careful study to learn new facts

"The team does research on health."

radical/ˈræd.ɪ.kəl/

very different from normal

"Some people called her views radical."

Listening

A Scientist Speaks Out: The Norton Case and Public Science

Jenna Norton is a program director at the National Institutes of Health in the United States. She worked on research about health disparities and spoke out about big cuts to research. She helped organize a public letter called the Bethesda Declaration in June 2025.

In November 2025 Norton was put on paid administrative leave. Her HR notice said the leave "is not being done for any disciplinary purpose." The Department of Health and Human Services also called her a "radical leftist." Norton posted a video on TikTok and said she was not given a reason for the leave. Many news outlets reported the leave.

104 words

Quiz

1. Who is the worker?

2. Where does she work?

3. When did she help organize the Bethesda Declaration?

Reading Practice

Read the article from the Listening section aloud. Your AI teacher will give you pronunciation feedback.

Discussion

Do you ever speak up at work when you see a problem? What happened?

Have you ever had to take leave from a job? How did you feel?

What do you think about people using social media to explain their side of a story?