Max Kozlov at Nature has won the 2025 Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award, CASW’s annual prize for a young science journalist, for his reporting on the Trump Administration’s disruption of federally funded scientific research.
Kozlov, a reporter at Nature since 2021, submitted four investigative stories about canceled grants and budget cuts at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world.
One exclusive story focused on a White House directive for NIH to refocus its gender transition studies on people who regret their decisions.
Kozlov also deeply reported a story about cuts to federally funded clinical trials abroad, which would affect thousands of people seeking care as study participants. A third story, based on internal correspondence and court documents obtained by Nature, revealed that Trump’s cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) directly ordered NIH to cancel hundreds of research grants and screened all grants before making awards. Kozlov also collaborated with a senior art editor on a graphic analysis of terminated NIH-funded research revealing which scientific fields and U.S. states are hardest hit.
“The ongoing turmoil at the NIH is one of the biggest stories in science journalism in the U.S. right now, and Kozlov’s work shows that he has been on it from the beginning,” wrote Shraddha Chakradhar, one of the judges. “His stories not only demonstrated his ability to report authoritatively on important and extremely timely policy developments, but landing an exclusive also revealed his ability to earn the trust of inside sources. That’s no ordinary feat, even for veteran journalists, but it’s especially impressive given the current political climate.”
Judge Josh Fischman highlighted Kozlov’s thorough reporting and clear-eyed analysis of the real-life effects of science cuts, firings, and fund freezes during this administration. “Kozlov gives readers straight answers at a confusing time, when the powers-that-be are offering misleading statements and other people are afraid to talk,” Fischman wrote.
Nell Greenfieldboyce, another judge, called Kozlov’s work “essential,” adding that it “shows resourcefulness and an ability to reveal how policy changes have impacted important science.”
Along with the winners of other 2025 awards conferred by CASW and the National Association of Science Writers, Kozlov will be honored during the organizations’ jointly hosted meeting, ScienceWriters2025, to be held in Chicago in November.
Judges for the 2025 award were:
- Shraddha Chakradhar, independent science journalist and editor
- Eva Emerson, editor in chief, Knowable Magazine
- Josh Fischman, senior editor, Scientific American
- Nell Greenfieldboyce, science correspondent at National Public Radio and a past recipient of the Clark/Payne award
The highly competitive prize was created in 1989 to encourage young science writers by recognizing outstanding reporting in all fields of science. It is given each year in honor of journalist Ev Clark, who offered friendship and advice to a generation of young reporters. The judging was organized by Robin Lloyd, a contributing editor at Scientific American and immediate past president of CASW. For the first three decades, the judging was organized by John Carey, former long-time senior correspondent for Business Week and colleague of Seth Payne, who raised money for the award in memory of Ev Clark.
Entrants must be age 30 or younger. The deadline for submissions is the end of June each year. For more information, please see the Clark/Payne page at casw.org.
