Different memo reveals details about Trump's war against science at NIH – Mother Jones

The national health institutes (Nih) plans to end future financing for research projects that deal with vaccine hesitation and covid pandemic as well as gender-known care, climate change as well as diversity, equity and inclusion, among other things for a new guide memo that was checked by a new theme memo Mother Jones.

The internal memo, which has not yet been completed, is essentially an instruction for the NIH employees, as they should end the administration as inappropriate subsidies. It contains the required template language “An Nih” by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the direction of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to describe “research activities that Nih no longer supports”. This includes:

• Hesitate vaccine. “It is NIH's policy not to prioritize research activities that concentrate [sic] Getting scientific knowledge about why individuals hesitate to be vaccinated and/or to examine paths to improve vaccine and engagement, ”says the memo and indicates the employees to tell the scholarship holders that“ NiH is obliged to carefully award Steward Grant Awards to ensure that the taxpayers benefit the American people and their quality of life Your project does not improve.
• The Covid pandemic. “After the pandemic is over,” claims the memo, Grant Fonds are “no longer necessary”. Later, in a section of the memo with the name “frequently asked questions”, officials write that projects that relate to the “general biology” of the coronavirus or with long covid can continue. (Although deaths have decreased since the beginning of pandemic, hundreds of people to covid still die in the United States.)
• Dei. These will be based as “research programs that are mainly based on artificial and non -scientific categories, including Amorpher equity goals”. In the programs, as the memo is, “opposite the scientific investigation, nothing to expand our knowledge of living systems, achieve a low investment return and ultimately improve health, to extend life or reduce illnesses.” (As my colleague Henry Carnell and I previously reported, research shows that the programs can improve innovation and productivity programs.)
• Gender care. “Research programs based on gender identity are often unscientific, have little identifiable investment return and do nothing to improve the health of many Americans,” the memo says. “Many such studies ignore biological realities rather than seriously examined.” (According to HHS as early as 2023, before Trump took up his office, research shows that gender -known care improves mental health and general well -being of the various children and adolescents and “increases the positive results”.)
• Means that support researchers in China. “The increase in Chinese universities does not improve the quality of life of the American people or improve America's position in the world,” says the memo. “On the contrary, the financing of research in China violates the interests of American National Security and hinders the American foreign political goals.”
• Climate change. According to Memo, this topic “in particular in the area of ​​the health effects of climate change” no longer agrees “with HHS/NIH priorities”. (I recently reported what it would mean to lower research on the health effects of climate change. Ultimately, it would be “disadvantageous” for our well-being, said Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou from Columbia University when I followed this week.)
• “Studies related to experiments to influence the opinion of the public. ” This vague category of research contained no further details or explanations.

If you have followed the messages, a large part of this guide will probably not be a shock. DEI and climate change research have been on chopping chopping since the first few days of the new administration. And how Science and the Washington Post In March, the NIH already reported to reduce the financing for dozens of ongoing ongoing studies on the delay in vaccine, whereby the language was created similar to the memo Mother Jones. As well as Nature Reports that the centers are planning for the control and prevention of diseases and NIH to cancel billions of funds in connection with the Covid pandemic.

The recent memo leaked through offers a deeper insight into programs, which the administration apparently plans to go to AX and more justification behind the research deficit.

Trump's scientific cuts, including the subject areas listed in the memo, are “like a random bag with problems,” says Darya Minovi, Senior Analyst at the Union of affected scientists. “[RFK Jr.] claims that he appreciates the gold standard science, “she says,” but if you look at the programs in which they have not invested, it is clear that they are actually not interested in being led by evidence and scientific consensus. ”

In addition to the outline of the agency's research priorities (or at least the things they habit Investigations), in the draft of the draft also describes how employees should tackle the financing provisions. For example, if a NIH award winner has received money for participating in a conference, but the conference has a session about Dei, the recipient cannot use the NIH funds to participate. If a project without priority activities such as the project is still practical, the memo says when these goals or activities are “negotiated”. In order to avoid that awards support these activities “erroneously”, the memo indicates the NIH employees, “make sure to completely enlarge all inappropriate activities”.

Nih and HHS did not immediately answer inquiries about comments from Mother Jones.