NIH Cuts Research Funding, Including Vaccine Hesitancy Studies; mRNA Research at Risk
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is slashing funding for numerous research projects, sparking concerns across the scientific community. The Trump administration’s recent actions have targeted long-standing areas of study, claiming they no longer align with the agency’s priorities. Among the hardest hit are grants dedicated to understanding vaccine hesitancy and improving immunization rates.
Scientists who research vaccine hesitancy and uptake are seeing their federal funding cut, under a Trump administration move. It’s part of a swathe of cuts to ongoing research funded by NIH.
In recent weeks, scientists have received letters informing them that their existing grants – funds already awarded through a competitive process – are being terminated. Initial cuts seemed to focus on research related to LGBTQ+ health and other areas deemed in conflict with President Trump’s executive orders on gender and “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Now, over 40 grants related to vaccine hesitancy have been cancelled, and there’s growing apprehension that research into mRNA vaccines could be next.
NPR obtained information from two NIH staffers and one individual familiar with NIH activities, all of whom requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. NPR also reviewed emails and documents they provided.
“I want to underscore just how unprecedented — how abnormal all of this is,” one long-time NIH official told NPR. “This is not how we operate.”
An internal email circulated among NIH leadership this week. It included a list of grants slated for termination along with specific language for the notification letters. The email stated, “It is the policy of NIH not to prioritize research activities that focuses gaining scientific knowledge on why individuals are hesitant to be vaccinated and/or explore ways to improve vaccine interest and commitment.”
The total number of cancelled grants is currently unknown. Neither the NIH nor the Department of Health and Human Services responded to NPR’s requests for comment.
“It appears that there are forces intent on destroying our existing vaccine enterprise,” says Dr. Jonathan Temte, a professor of family medicine at the University of Wisconsin who studies vaccine hesitancy. “Defunding research on vaccine hesitancy is the latest example of this effort.”
mRNA Research May Be at Risk
In a move viewed by some within the agency as a concerning sign, acting NIH director Dr. Matthew Memoli requested information last week about funding supporting mRNA vaccine research. This technology has been crucial in the development of COVID-19 vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, according to an email reviewed by NPR. This request for information mirrors a similar request that preceded the termination of vaccine hesitancy grants.
“NIH staff internally are very worried that the mRNA grants will follow the outcome of the vaccine hesitancy grants and be terminated,” stated one NIH employee who was not authorized to speak publicly. “There are widespread concerns that this will limit the ability to combat pandemics and halt promising lifesaving cancer treatments.”
NPR reviewed a list of 130 awards from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which funds the majority of mRNA research. It includes projects developing vaccines for Lyme disease, dengue fever, and Clostridium difficile, a sometimes life-threatening gastrointestinal infection. The National Cancer Institute, as well as other parts of the NIH, also fund this work because mRNA technology shows promise for targeted cancer treatment.
“I am on pins and needles constantly,” said Justin Richner, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Illinois, Chicago. “I’m really kind of waiting for the shoe to drop in terms of looking for the email saying the grant has been canceled.” Richner’s four-year, $1 million NIH grant is on the agency’s internal list. His lab is working to develop an mRNA vaccine to protect against dengue, a mosquito-borne virus affecting millions globally and spreading in the United States.
“It’s an outrageous incursion on the way in which the NIH is managing the money that’s been appropriated by Congress,” stated Dr. Harold Varmus, a Nobel Prize-winning professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College who served as NIH director from 1993 to 1999.
Aaron Scherer, a researcher at the University of Iowa who studies vaccine hesitancy, stated that his grants have not been canceled, but given the current climate, he anticipates that the NIH will not fund his future proposals, “regardless of its scientific and health merits.”
Health Disparities and LGBTQ+ Research Lose Ground
Vaccine research represents the latest target in the Trump administration’s expanding effort to cut off NIH-funded researchers. A first wave of letters, sent last month, informed researchers their grants were being terminated because the projects did not align with the President’s executive orders. Letters reviewed by NPR stated “no modification of the project could align the project with agency priorities.” However, a current NIH employee told NPR that scientific staff responsible for making this determination are not being consulted.
“They’re not checking with us,” said the source, adding that these termination decisions are made with almost no notice. According to an internal memo, NIH staff have been directed to categorize awards based on whether the “sole purpose of the project is DEI related” or if the project could continue with modifications. This guidance also has implications for hundreds of awards in the coming months, as numerous Notices of Funding Opportunities have been removed, and grants applied for through these notices will not receive funding, according to the NIH staffer.
Brittany Charlton, who directs the LGBTQ Health Center of Excellence at Harvard University, said she’s counted two dozen terminated awards affecting colleagues working on projects related to HIV prevention and Alzheimer’s.
These cuts affect not only research on the LGBTQ+ community but also other vulnerable communities, according to Charlton.
“We’re not studying fringe issues, and they’re not at all ideological either,” Charlton says, “The research that’s being abruptly terminated by the federal government right now is really meant to identify what underlies some of these disparities and help to address them.”
