Scientists sue NIH, HHS, RFK Jr. over termination of research grants
Researchers who had millions of dollars' worth of grants terminated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are suing the federal government in the hopes of stopping any further research cancellations.
The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday evening against the NIH and its director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, as well as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Among the plaintiffs are Dr. Brittany Charlton, an associate professor in the department of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who said all of her grants were terminated because they allegedly "no longer [effectuate] agency priorities," according to termination letters.
"Why am I standing up? I am a scientist, and therefore not a lawyer, but I appreciate that contract law is complex, and yet NIH's contract cancellations set off my alarm bell," she told ABC News in a statement.
Co-plaintiffs include the American Public Health Association; Ibis Reproductive Health; and United Auto Workers as well as three other researchers.
Both the NIH and the HHS told ABC News that they don't comment on ongoing litigation.
Over the past several weeks, active research grants related to studies involving LGBTQ+ issues, gender identity and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) have been canceled at the NIH because they allegedly do not serve the "priorities" of President Donald Trump's administration.
As of late March, more than 900 grants have been terminated, an NIH official with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be named, told ABC News.
The terminations come after Trump passed a flurry of executive orders including vowing to "defend women from gender ideology extremism," which has led to new guidance, like that from HHS, which now only recognizes two sexes.
The administration has also issued several executive orders aiming to dismantle DEI initiatives.
In previous termination letters, viewed by ABC News, they state that, "Research programs based on gender identity are often unscientific, have little identifiable return on investment, and do nothing to enhance the health of many Americans. Many such studies ignore, rather than seriously examine, biological realities. It is the policy of NIH not to prioritize these research programs."
The lawsuit alleges that the grant terminations are a "reckless and illegal purge to stamp out NIH-funded research that addresses topics and populations that they disfavor."
Charlton said she was alarmed by Project 2025 -- a nearly 1,000-page document of policy proposals unveiled by the Heritage Foundation during the 2024 campaign intended to guide the next conservative administration -- which allegedly attacked fields like hers, centering on LGBTQ+ health research, as "junk gender science," she said.
On the campaign trail, Trump tried to distance himself from Project 2025, saying he didn't know anything about the proposals.
Five of Charlton's grants were terminated, including a five-year grant, of which Charlton said she and her colleagues were in their fourth year, focused on documenting obstetrical outcomes for lesbian, gay and bisexual women, she said.
Another grant was focused on how to improve the experience of lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals who are trying to form their families, she said.
A third was research looking to understand how laws identified by the team as discriminatory affect mental health among LGBTQ+ teens and potentially lead to depression and suicide, according to Charlton.
Charlton said the cancellations are not only affecting her ability to conduct research but the ability to keep open the LGBTQ Health Center of Excellence -- based at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health -- of which she is the founding director.
"My current NIH research contracts are worth $15.9 million, of which $5.9 million still needs to be spent to finish our research," Charlton said. "I have essentially no salary now, and I may need to shutter our newly launched LGBTQ Health Center of Excellence, which was a career goal of mine that I finally met when we launched less than a year ago."
She went on, "These grant terminations may end my academic career, and I've already been forced to make really tough decisions like terminating staff, including our newly appointed center's executive director."
According to the lawsuit, Dr. Katie Edwards, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work, has had at least six grants terminated worth about $11.9 million, including one studying sexual violence among men who fall under sexual minorities. She can no longer pay several of the roughly 50 staff members who are funded through the research grants, the lawsuit states.
Dr. Peter Lurie, president and CEO of the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, was a paid consultant and adviser on a grant evaluating the impacts of over-the-counter access to pre-exposure prophylaxis to reduce HIV transmission, according to the lawsuit. The grantee institution, Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, received a termination letter from the NIH in late March, the lawsuit states.
Meanwhile Dr. Nicole Maphis -- a postdoctoral fellow at the University of New Mexico's School of Medicine -- who was studying the link between alcohol use disorder and Alzheimer's disease, applied for a MOSAIC grant, "intended to help diversify the profession," according to the lawsuit. Her proposal was pulled and her current funding ends September 2025.
"Without additional funding, which the MOSAIC award would have provided, she will lose her job," the lawsuit states.
Charlton said she is hopeful the lawsuit results in a preliminary injunction and therefore halts further NIH terminations.
"I believe these contracts are binding agreements and are constitutionally grounded," she said. "It's been less than 100 days since inauguration, and I'm concerned. Concerned about signs of growing authoritarianism, and yet there is absolutely hope executive orders can't rewrite laws, and I pray courts ensure justice, pursuing truth, including via science, unites us, and it's the only way to ensure a healthier future for all."
