The Trump Administration’s cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are having major consequences for Americans’ health. The NIH fired thousands of employees, abruptly cancelled grant projects already in progress, halted funding for new applications, and aimed to slash funding for other key research costs known as indirect costs. Experts warn the massive cuts have already done lasting damage to public health programs which Americans across the country rely on for essential health services and research. Among the hundreds of organizations impacted is the Whitman Walker Institute with specializes on providing treatment and preventive services to people who identify as LGBTQ, Black or Latino as well as individuals living with HIV/AIDs. The NIH suddenly cancelled the Whitman Walker Institute’s funding to build a research center to expand access to the latest HIV treatment and prevention. The cancellation of funding will significantly delay the opening of the center, which the organization says will cost lives and livelihoods. “Lives are on the line”, said Kellen Baker, Whitman Walker Institute’s Executive Director for Health and Research Policy. “Every day that we are not able to move forward with construction of this biomedical hub is a day lost in fighting the HIV epidemic”.
According to an analysis by KFF Health News, the NIH cancelled approximately 780 grants, in full or in part, between Feb. 28 and March 28 alone. Some of this research included long term cancer studies and other research that can take a decade or more to complete. Sybil Hosek, professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago, leads a network that works to improve care for young Americans (13 to 24 years of age) living with HIV or who face a higher risk for infection. The Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions supported highly innovative and impactful clinical trials and committed to ensure treatments reach adolescents in the ways that work the best for them. The NIH awarded Florida State University $73 million to run the network in 2023, but the funding was cancelled. “We never thought they would destroy an entire network dedicated to young Americans,” said Hosek. The termination “doesn’t make sense to us.”
Additional cuts may occur in the next year, as the Trump administration’s 2026 budget proposal slashes the entire NIH budget by an 40 percent. NIH director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya testified to congress on Tuesday about the proposed budget. Ahead of this testimony, over 340 current and recently fired NIH employees sent a letter to Dr. Bhattacharya calling out the ethical, health and financial damage of his decisions for the American public. The letter says that the cancellation of 2,100 research grants worth $9.5 billion “throw away years of hard work and millions of dollars” and that studies “are being halted without regard to participant safety, abruptly stopping medications or leaving participants with unmonitored device implants”. Dr. Jenna Norton, a program director within NIH’s division of kidney, urologic and hematologic diseases, said “there are very real concerns that we’re being asked to do likely illegal activities, and certainly unethical activities that breach our rules”, including cancelling grants for no valid reasons in violation of NIH rules. The additional propose budget cuts put patient health at risk, waste tax dollars and stop critical research on cancer and infectious diseases.
Full Story: KFF Health News, Reuters
