The federal government agreed to reassess grants the National Institutes of Health terminated, according to court documents filed Dec. 29 in a case concerning hundreds of canceled research projects.
The American Public Health Association and other plaintiffs filed the lawsuit April 2, about one month after HHS and NIH launched “a reckless and illegal purge to stamp out NIH-funded research that addresses topics and populations that they disfavor,” according to the initial complaint.
In a motion to resolve the case, the NIH agreed to reconsider federal grant applications the organization “considered but decided not to fund,” “administratively withdrawn or denied,” or “has not yet made a decision to withdraw, deny, or award.”
The applications subject for review are those related to diversity, equity and inclusion; COVID-19; and gender.
A May analysis from Harvard Medical School researchers calculated the U.S. terminated 694 NIH grants, amounting $1.81 billion, between Feb. 28 and April 8. By June, the loss in NIH-funded grants reached $3.2 billion for 2,548 projects, according to Grant Watch.
In June and July, two separate judges ruled some of the terminations — some of which were studies on race, gender and sexual orientation — were discriminatory and directed NIH to restore funding for hundreds of grants.
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