Targeted termination of scientific grants and minoritised researcher status in a national survey: a cross sectional analysis - The Lancet Regional Health – Americas

Between January and May 2025, the National Institutes of Health terminated over 2000 grants primarily relating to health equity, particularly for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and sexual and gender minority (SGM) communities. 600 grants were terminated as part of blanket, institution-wide actions that were purportedly to “combat anti-Semitism.”

N = 1918 investigators with grant terminations documented in the Grant Witness database were sent a unique link for an online demographic survey. We built logistic regression models to assess the odds of receiving different grant termination types, for BIPOC, SGM, female, and Jewish researchers.

941 investigators participated (49.1% response rate). Nearly half (48.6%) of investigators with equity-related terminations were BIPOC and 60.0% of investigators with gender-related terminations were SGM, including 16.5% who identified as transgender or non-binary. Additionally, 20.5% of investigators with institutional terminations (for purported antisemitism) were Jewish. Among investigators of terminated grants, BIPOC investigators had higher odds of receiving an equity-related termination (aOR = 2.69, 95% CI: 1.71–4.25 for BIPOC women and trans/nonbinary investigators, aOR = 1.82, 95% CI: 1.10–3.02 for BIPOC men) compared to White men. SGM investigators had 11 times higher odds of receiving a gender-related termination (aOR = 11.14, 95% CI: 6.85–18.12) than heterosexual, cisgender investigators, and White women and trans/non-binary investigators had double the odds (aOR = 2.24, 95% CI: 1.25–4.02) of a gender-related termination than cisgender White men.

Grant terminations targeting health research for BIPOC and SGM communities have disproportionately targeted the careers of BIPOC, SGM, and female researchers and researchers from disadvantaged backgrounds. Ensuring the health of all Americans will require systematic re-investment in these topics and scientists.