Several active research subsidies linked to studies involving LGBTQ +problems, gender identity and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are canceled at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) because they would not respond to the “priorities” of the current administration.
From last week, at least 24 letters of termination were sent to researchers from various universities and dozens of others have probably occurred, an NIH official knowing the issue, who asked for anonymity, confirmed to ABC News.
According to copies of some of the letters of termination, given by ABC News, canceled subsidies involved research on “transgender problems” and “gender identity”, in particular the study of stress in LGBTQ + older adults and the epidemiology of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia in LGBTQ + elderly.
“This price no longer affects the agency’s priorities,” say all the letters. “Research programs based on gender identity are often non -scientific, have little identifiable return on investment and do nothing to improve the health of many Americans. Many studies of this type ignore, rather than seriously examining, biological realities. It is NIH policy so as not to prioritize these research programs.”
“The premise … is incompatible with the agency’s priorities, and no modification of the project could align the project with the agency’s priorities,” continue the letters.
Letters indicate that the NIH generally allows the beneficiaries of subsidy to “take appropriate corrective measures” before a termination decision is authorized. However, the letters declare “no corrective action is possible here”.
The entry of the patient to the National Institutes of Health is presented in Bethesda, MD., October 16, 2014.
Gary Cameron / Reuters, file
This occurs while President Donald Trump has made radical changes to the federal government in his first weeks in power, in particular by issuing new directives that recognize only two sexes, promising “”Defend women against extremism of gender ideology“And the publication of several decrees aimed at dismantling the DEI initiatives.
Neither the NIH nor the White House immediately responded to the request for comments from ABC News.
In addition, NIH Institutes and Centers are invited to examine prices for new and current projects to ensure that they do not contain DEI or language research activities that give the perception that NIH funds can be used to support these activities. “
According to an orientation document, obtained by ABC News, NIH employees are invited to place these projects in one of the four categories. The first category is if the objective of the project is only linked to DEI, in which case the sentence cannot be given.
Category two involves “partially” projects supporting the activities of the Dei. The price can only be granted if “non -compliant” activities are negotiated outside the project.
Category three involves projects that do not support Dei activities but may contain a language related to the DEI, which must be deleted before a sentence can be given, and category four implies projects that support no Dei activity.
We do not know what this exactly means for a project to support the activities of I or to contain the dei language, but the guidance document includes examples such as the aim of a meeting being diversity or “a declaration concerning institutional commitment to diversity”.
Wednesday, a federal judge published a national order The blocking of NIH of the effect of reducing research funding that researchers have warned could catastrophically harm the medical and scientific research and potentially affect treatments in the United States
“As indicated clearly by the declarations in support of a preliminary injunction against the implementation of the notice of rate change, the risk of prejudice for research institutions and beyond is immediately, devastating and irreparable,” said American district judge Angel Kelley on the attempted ceiling for indirect costs to 15%, adding the attempt to reduce the federal law.
It remains to be seen whether the injunction will have an effect on the projects of universities that have received letters of termination.
Peter Charalambous, from ABC News, contributed to this report.
