The National Institutes of Health has canceled at least five GW research grants this month, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.
In March, the NIH canceled the five grants — totaling more than $3 million in lost funding — for studies by GW researchers that examined the effects of HIV on racial minority populations in the United States, according to a list of terminated grants published by HHS on March 21. The Trump administration last month ordered federal agencies to flag grants for studies on issues considered to relate to diversity, equity and inclusion — initiatives that President Donald Trump has called “discrimination programs.”
Provost Chris Bracey and Interim Vice Provost for Research Robert Miller wrote in an email to faculty last week that the University cannot supplement funds for externally funded research grants that have been terminated or delayed.
Bracey and Miller said officials may furlough postdoctoral fellows and research staff whose entire compensation is dependent on externally funded awards “at the dean’s decision” if those awards are delayed or paused, and may eliminate their positions if their awards are terminated. If research faculty, students or staff have been offered employment at GW that relates to an externally funded project, officials may rescind the offer, according to the email.
“We are working with Human Resource Management & Development and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs to draft guidelines relating to furloughs, including information about the maintenance of tuition and health and wellness benefits during a period of furlough,” the email states.
The email instructs faculty that have received a “stop work order” for their projects to reach out to the Office of Sponsored Projects and their assigned Research Support Team.
The email also states that employees whose compensation is supported on externally funded awards that have been reduced or terminated need to receive approval from their dean’s office on next steps, including reducing compensation proportionally to the loss in funds, leaving the University or “reallocating all or part of their effort to other funding sources.”
“This is a dynamic and rapidly shifting environment, so we expect that investigators will continue to plan for possible disruptions in funding in coordination with their school leadership, assigned Research Support Team staff and the Office of Sponsored Projects,” the email states.
A total of 338 grants totaling more than $127 million have lost NIH funding at universities across the country since the start of the Trump administration, according to the HHS data.
Because many of the canceled grants were in progress when they were terminated, the HHS website lists the total award amount of the grant and the total “unliquidated obligations” of the grant or the money the grant had not yet used as of termination and will lose.
The Trump administration has flagged grants with purported links to DEI by flagging those that contain words like “diverse,” “gender” and “oppression.” The administration has also ordered agencies to cease work on grants that conflict with executive orders, including those that state there are only two genders and ban DEI initiatives.
The NIH capped coverage for universities’ overhead and administrative costs at 15 percent, which a federal judge blocked last month. HHS halted grant review panel announcements on the Federal Register last month, leading federal agencies to cancel dozens of panels and delay funding for projects.
The NIH on March 20 terminated a grant led by Lisa Bowleg, a professor of applied social psychology. The grant was an award of $3.7 million for a study aimed at reducing the drug use and associated mental and physical outcomes for gay and bisexual Black men. The NIH’s website tags the study as relating to HIV and AIDs, as well as sexuality and race, and states that the grant will lose $30,233.
Jonathon Rendina, an associate research professor of public health, led a now-canceled grant that totaled over $6 million and studied inequities faced by women and transgender people of color with HIV. The NIH canceled the grant on March 21, and it will lose the roughly $1.4 million it has not yet spent, according to the HHS website.
Derek Dangerfield II, an associate professor of prevention and community health, lost two grants — one for $676,457 canceled on March 12 and another for $1.7 million canceled on March 21, which will lose $598,896 and $870,801 respectively. Both study care outcomes for Black men living with HIV and how these men can navigate racism and the stigma associated with the virus within the health care system, according to the NIH website.
David Kalwicz, a clinical psychology doctoral candidate, leads the third grant, which studies messaging surrounding HIV and its impact on Black and Hispanic populations. The NIH canceled the $48,974 grant award on March 18, and it is slated to lose $42,250, according to the HHS data.
Dangerfield, Kalwicz and Bowleg declined to comment. Rendina did not immediately return a request for comment.
In fiscal year 2024, 82 percent of GW research funding could be attributed to federal sources, according to Miller.
The University’s federal research expenditures rose from about $161.87 million in FY2022 to about $162.89 million in FY2023, according to the University’s annual research report presented in January. GW tallied 126 NIH grants in FY2024, totaling $79 million.
The GW Office of Sponsored Projects collaborated with the University this week to launch a web page listing executive orders that may affect GW’s research activity. It also links announcements from federal agencies, like the National Science Foundation.
Officials announced in an email to faculty and staff late last month that GW is adding a “position management review process” to the promotions and hiring process through at least fiscal year 2025 to preserve the University’s “limited” resources as officials brace for potential hits to the University budget from recent executive actions.
