Trump administration cut more than $1.8 billion in NIH grants

The Trump administration terminated $1.81 billion in National Institutes of Health grants in less than 40 days, including $544 million in as-yet-unspent funds.

The Trump administration terminated $1.81 billion in National Institutes of Health grants in less than 40 days, including $544 million in as-yet-unspent funds.

That’s according to an analysis published Thursday in JAMA, which relies on data from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System. 

The analysis offers the most comprehensive look to date at how much NIH funding has been slashed since the Trump administration kickstarted a massive effort to reduce what it sees as waste and inefficiency in federal spending. 

Some grants were temporarily reinstated due to court orders as new terminations were being issued, so the data is still in flux, said Michael Liu, an author of the study and a student at Harvard Medical School. Nevertheless, the HHS grant tracker is still the most accurate, real-time dataset available, he said. 

From Feb. 28 to April 8, the administration terminated nearly 700 grants across 24 NIH institutes and centers focused on subjects such as aging, cancer, child health, diabetes, mental health and neurological disorders.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/trump-administration-cut-18-billion-nih-grants-rcna205568

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