The 2026 Stand Up for Science rally was held in City Hall Park, New York City and around the country in a national day of action. Almost all of the protesters were MDs, PhDs, or both, with young researchers and PhD candidates also represented. Speakers included Michelle Ng Gong, MD, president-elect of the American Thoracic Society, who spoke forcefully of the need for the federal government to finance medical research and treatments for respiratory diseases. When one speaker asked the protesters to raise their hands if they had had loss of federal funding in the last 12 months, almost everyone raised a hand.