Researchers who worried that their recently restored National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants could be terminated again because of a recent Supreme Court ruling can breathe a bit easier for the moment. Government lawyers have told NIH staff that the roughly 900 grants on topics such as transgender health, COVID-19, and health disparities should stay in place.
But political appointees at NIH could still ignore that legal advice. And after 1 October, NIH will have new legal backing to cancel the next fiscal year’s funding for the projects.
“So while this is good news for now, these grants aren’t out of the woods yet,” Harvard University epidemiologist and former attorney Scott Delaney posted on Bluesky today. Delaney has been tracking the terminations on his Grant Witness site.
