Trump slashes medical research funded by the National Institutes of Health

The Trump White House escalated its war on public health February 7, announcing a drastic reduction in research grants to major universities from the National Institutes of Health. NIH research grants presently fund $27 billion in direct research and $9 billion in facilities and administration (F&A) costs. The new directive would slash F&A spending by $4 billion, nearly 50 percent.

Because research projects do not proceed in a vacuum but require extensive administrative support ranging from janitorial services to utilities to safety compliance reviews, research grants are accompanied by grants for “indirect support,” averaging about 28 percent of the direct grant. This figure will now be reduced to 15 percent, the rate of indirect support provided in many private foundation grants.

This is a drastic cut, with a devastating impact on research institutions nationwide, crippling their ability to maintain laboratories, pay staff, and continue life-saving medical research. Not only that, it is to take effect over a single weekend, and applied to current research grants at a point that is nearly halfway through the federal fiscal year, making the cuts that much more disruptive.

A February 7, 2025, social media post by Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, a leading epidemiologist, explained that the cuts will mean “[colleges] and universities won’t be able to support students, tuitions will increase, especially graduate students and researchers who find cures and preventions for cancer, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and more. This will not only raise tuition and hurt the pipeline of future scientists/doctors but completely decimate medical and public health research” (his emphasis).

This attack on NIH funding is especially grievous given the long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, which revealed deep structural weaknesses in the US healthcare system, which was unprepared to respond to the threat posed by emerging pandemics. The rapid development of vaccines through NIH-backed programs demonstrated the agency’s essential role in responding to public health crises.

A 2022 study published in Lancet Infectious Diseases estimated that the COVID vaccines averted 19.8 million excess deaths worldwide, a reduction of 63 percent. In the first two years after the COVID vaccines were introduced, a Commonwealth Fund study estimated that cumulative effect of these treatments prevented more than 18 million additional hospitalizations and more than three million additional deaths.

However, the Trump administration’s budget cuts threaten future research on emerging infectious diseases, vaccine advancements, and long-term studies on post-COVID conditions such as Long COVID, which has affected countless millions worldwide. The suppression of funding means fewer resources for research into the ongoing health complications of COVID-19, including its impact on neurological disorders, cardiovascular health, and immune system function.

In parallel with these funding cuts, Trump has silenced public health agencies, issuing sweeping executive orders that prohibit government scientists from publishing research that does not align with the administration’s ideological agenda. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and NIH have been ordered to withdraw manuscripts from scientific journals, while public health websites containing essential epidemiological data have been scrubbed of references to gender identity and racial disparities. This widespread censorship prevents scientists from accurately tracking the long-term effects of the pandemic and restricts access to vital health information that could help vulnerable populations. Moving forward, the veracity of the data being uploaded comes into question.

History and background of the NIH

The origins of the NIH can be traced back to the Marine Hospital Service (MHS), which was established in 1798 to provide medical care to sick and disabled seamen. The MHS, funded by a tax on merchant sailors’ wages, was the first federally supported public health initiative in the United States. By the late 19th century, public health crises such as yellow fever and cholera prompted the expansion of the agency’s scope beyond maritime health.

In the 1880s, Congress charged the MHS with examining passengers on arriving ships for contagious infections. Efforts to prevent the spread of disease in a period of widespread immigration coincided with the discoveries by 19th century scientists like Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch that food spoilage and diseases were attributable to specific organisms, leading to a deeper understanding of the social necessity of a broad public health policy. Central to this was the systematic reporting, study and analysis of emerging pathogens and epidemics.

In 1887, the MHS created the Hygienic Laboratory, which would later evolve into the NIH. The laboratory, located in Staten Island, New York, focused on bacteriological research to combat infectious diseases. It was staffed by pioneers such as Joseph Kinyoun, a microbiologist trained at Johns Hopkins University, who played a critical role in establishing the foundation for biomedical research in the United States.