Despite federal court orders to resume grant funding, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) officials have continued a month-long freeze, succumbing to pressure from the Trump administration.
Katherine J. Wu reports for The Atlantic.
In short:
- The NIH has halted most grant awards since late January, following directives from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ignore court mandates lifting the funding freeze.
- Acting NIH Director Matthew Memoli, appointed in January, has instructed staff to comply with HHS guidance, leading to internal disputes and the resignation of key officials, including Lawrence Tabak, longtime NIH principal deputy director.
- The funding pause has disrupted critical research nationwide, jeopardizing clinical trials and the livelihoods of thousands of scientists who rely on NIH grants.
Key quote:
“If they’re holding it [funding] back for policy reasons, they’re violating the law.”
— David Super, administrative law expert at Yale and Georgetown
Why this matters:
The NIH funds over 60,000 research proposals annually, supporting more than 300,000 scientists across the U.S. The prolonged funding freeze not only hampers medical advancements but also threatens public health by stalling research on critical issues, including cancer and infectious diseases.
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