The historic main building of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
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Scientific researchers across the country are worried after the National Institutes of Health canceled their meetings this week with little explanation. The move comes after federal health officials were asked to interrupt public communications until they can be reviewed by a Trump appointee.
The NIH is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world, investing more than $40 billion in research each year.
The agency brings together scientists from academic institutions across the country in what are called “study sections” to help them determine which research is most important to fund.
Dr. Chrystal Starbirdstructural cancer biologist and professor at UNC Chapel Hill, said his study section was scheduled to meet next week. On Wednesday, she received a cancellation notice by email.
“It was pretty vague — he was saying it was canceled, that they couldn’t offer any further explanation at this time, and he was thanking us for our service to the NIH,” Starbird said.
She explains that these are not the kind of meetings that can be easily postponed. There are many moving parts, involving different institutions all operating on different timelines. A delay — especially an indefinite delay, like this one — could negatively impact important cancer research, Starbird says.
It’s possible that this is just a temporary break in meetings to allow the new Trump team to get their bearings, Starbird says. And indeed, the public communications freeze for the entire Department of Health and Human Services — NIH is part of HHS — ends Feb. 1, according to a memo obtained by NPR.
“I guess I can potentially understand that, but I don’t understand the lack of communication,” Starbird says. “I also don’t think the people who just made this decision fully understand what this can mean in terms of the implications for really important and critical research.”
The NIH did not respond to NPR’s questions about the scope and reasons for the cancellations.
It is unclear whether this decision is related to the communication memo sent Tuesday by Acting HHS Secretary Dr. Dorothy Fink. This memo asks leaders of the NIH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and all other health agencies to refrain from most external communications until they can be approved by “a person appointed by the President.”
NPR also obtained an email memo indicating that travel is also suspended for HHS staff members and that job offers that have been extended are being rescinded.
HHS staff members who spoke to NPR are very concerned about all of this and are unsure whether information and documents that were supposed to be submitted will now be delayed. It’s unclear whether the infectious disease dashboards, which track events like COVID-19 and the flu, will be updated on schedule. The CDC’s weekly morbidity and mortality report was not released Thursday at the usual time, 1 p.m. EST.
Looming above these developments is the fact that, during Trump’s first term, there were cases of political appointments attempt to alter CDC reports on COVID-19. Some worry that these developments are a sign that policymakers intend to exert a new type of control over federal health and research agencies.
Below is the full text of an email sent to employees at an NIH institute, obtained by NPR:
We understand that staff may have questions regarding recent executive orders or HHS guidance related to the transition. In most cases, federal agencies have not yet received additional guidance regarding implementation beyond the issuance of these orders. We are awaiting guidance from OPM (Office of Personnel Management), HHS, and NIH/OHR (Office of Human Resources) and will share more information with all staff as soon as possible. In the meantime, here are some first tips:
- Hiring checks – As you probably already know, we are currently under a hiring freeze and have canceled all job offers for those who were integrated after 02/8. There are some exceptions, and we will provide more information on their status when we receive a response from HHS/OHR.
- Travel Tips – The institutes and centers were responsible for all travel is immediately suspended; The Senior Travel Specialist (from the Institute) will coordinate travel changes centrally and contact anyone affected directly. Please submit a How2 request if you have specific questions.
- Communications – We have received indications from HHS that there is a suspend external communications – this includes, but is not limited to, events, stakeholder meetings, speaking engagements, social media posts, mass emails to external audiences (including beneficiaries) and publications on websites.
- Return to the physical workplace – We are waiting for advice; no immediate changes to existing remote or telework arrangements are expected pending further guidance from the NIH.
Senior leaders (of the Institute) coordinate closely to assess impact and collect specific questions (to the Institute). We encourage you to contact your supervisor or office/division/laboratory management with any questions. Thank you for your continued dedication and hard work. We appreciate your patience while we wait for more information.
Marc Silver contributed to this report.