The National Institutes of Health will no longer permit U.S. grantees to issue subawards to foreign collaborators, citing transparency and national security concerns, the agency said May 1.
Four things to know:
1. Effective immediately, the NIH will not issue, renew or approve grants that include subawards to foreign institutions. Historically, U.S. researchers have used these subawards to support international collaborators on NIH-funded projects.
2. Current awards that include foreign recipients are not affected. NIH will also permit grantees to rebudget funds domestically if a foreign subaward grantee is removed from a grant.
3. The NIH plans to implement a new grant structure by Sept. 30 that would prohibit subawards under primary grants. Instead, international collaborators would receive independent but linked awards, allowing the agency to better track spending.
4. The change marks a significant shift in how the U.S. funds global health research. In 2024, the NIH issued about 3,700 subawards and, on average, spends about $500 million on the international funding mechanism every year, according to Nature. Areas likely to be affected include cancer, maternal health and infectious disease research.
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