January 24, 2025
4 Small reading
President Trump suddenly canceled important scientific examination in NIH, the world’s largest public funding for biological medicine
It seems that President Trump has suspended research subsidies and travel to the National Institute of Health indefinitely and deleted a diversity program on the institute’s website.

A vaccine research center on the campus of the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
Grandfather/Aramie Stock Photo
Following Donald Trump as the 47th US President, confusion and anxiety in the US Health Research Community have spread this week. The administration has suddenly canceled research grants, travel, and training for scientists inside and outside the National Institute of Sanitation (NIH), the world’s largest biological medical fund providers. A further concern is that the Trump team has deleted the entire web page on diversity programs and diversity -related subsidies from government agencies.
The cancellation of the meeting and travel is part of the suspension of external information on January 21 by the US Health and Welfare (HHS), the parent organization of NIH. Researchers who heard the story Nature In the past, US government agencies have been suspended all day to change the direction of the strategy when the new administration has been launched, but the trump team’s activities and lengths are scheduled to last until at least until February 1st. ) He states that it is unprecedented. 。 Without an advisory committee meeting, NIH could not issue a research subsidy, and 80 % of the $ 47 billion of NIH budgets, which provide funds for nationwide and overseas research, will be temporarily frozen.
“I have never seen this before,” says Carroll Labon, a biologist in Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He has been funding for more than 20 years from the agency. “The uncertainty caused by the pause will be catastrophic, especially for young researchers,” said Rabonne.
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According to NIH’s spokeswoman, this suspension includes “mass communication and appearing in public places that are not directly related to emergencies or are not important for maintaining health.” “This is a short pause to make the new team can set up a review and priority process.”
Researchers in the NIH and HHS spokeswoman have been regarded as the subsidy review committee will appear in public, why they have been canceled, or that suspensions will hinder the mission of the institution. I didn’t respond to questions about concerns.
Mission that is threatened?
Usually, NIH will give a research subsidy after two separate committees, consisting of independent experts in a particular science, have judged project proposals. On Wednesday, Social Media Platform X and Bluesky reported that the subsidy review committee, which was scheduled for February 2, was canceled without any indication when it would be re -scheduled.
These panels, which are called “research sections” and “advisory committees”, are sometimes scheduled a year ago, and more than 30 researchers may participate, so it takes time to change the schedule. The cancellation “domino effect” may occur. Mr. Labon said that researchers who are waiting for the subsidy screening will “be dismissed if they are uncertain, or are delayed, or forced to find a job elsewhere. ” “In particular, little career researchers are at risk, especially because they can miss their research, promotion, and employment periods,” he added.
It makes sense to hold a new policy transmission when a new presidential administration is born, a former NIH director and now Cornell Medicine in New York City. say. He says, however, the extensive authority of the current pause is contrary to the mission of government agencies. The US Congress has assigned a budget to NIH to provide research funds, so he added, “If you do not change the status quo, you will be asked for Congress.”
On January 22, the first research section of Oregon Health Science, Oregon Health Science, wrote this week that the research section she was planning to participate in was canceled this week. As a judge for a subsidy, she has always read ideas in research projects that can “make a big change in health.” She added: “I hope you will return to track right away. Real people, real life is waiting for science.”
The suspension of communication includes NIH’s sister agencies, such as the US Disease Prevention Management Center (CDC), which supports the health protection of the United States. Today, CDC did not disclose weekly digests on disease statistics and research. Weekly reports of affection rate and mortalityFor the first time in the 60 -year history of digests, scientists and healthcare professionals around the world trust. This week’s issue will have three reports on the new occurrence of H5n1 bird influenza. of Washington Post。
Diversity goals
In addition to the uncertainty among researchers, the Trump administration seems to have deleted all structural racism and diversity from the NIH website. For many years, NIH has been criticized by the research community for lack of racial and ethnic diversity of researchers who have granted subsidies, but this criticism is diversifying the United States and its scientists. Vasums says it is “natural” and urgent. 。
These deletions are likely to be the result of the presidential decree that President Trump ends what is called the “radical and wasteful” government diversity program and suspends the employment of those engaged in its role.
Currently, NIH’s website has missed application information on a grant called a diversity supplement, which provides up to 125,000 dollars to a maximum of $ 125,000 for young researchers. In addition, the documents of the diversity, fairness, and inclination bureau of the agency, and materials for all agencies, called Unite, aimed at working on structural racism in biological medical labor.
The community is struggling with diversifying scientific human resources, and Labonne says, “I have only a few progress.” “And now, it was erased by the pen stroke.”
This article has been reprinted with permission, First published January 23, 2025。