Science supporters rally across US to protest Trump research cuts: See photos

Thousands rallied Friday against the Trump administration's sweeping cuts to research funding and federal agencies tasked with advancing science.

Dubbed "Stand Up for Science," rallies brought together leading researchers, former administrators and people who benefitted from medical advances. The main rally occurred on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington, D.C., with an estimated 30 events held from Seattle to Tallahassee, Florida, and even in France.

"I'm a patriot, I love my country," Dr. Francis Collins, a longtime former director of the National Institutes of Health who abruptly resigned from the agency in February, told attendees on the National Mall. "And I'm worried about my country right now."

Collins, a physician-scientist, served in multiple Democratic and Republican administrations over three decades, including pioneering work on the Human Genome Project, which has led to advances in medicine and furthered understanding of human biology.

At the end of his speech, he grabbed his trademark guitar, with double helix strands of DNA on its neck. He then played a singalong for "all the good people," from students to doctors, he said.

"We're joined together by this noble dream," he sang.

See photos from the rallies across the nation.