NIH halts key LGBTQ+ HIV studies, citing mission conflict

Why it matters: As director of the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing at Northwestern, Mustanski's work is focused on health equity for sexual and gender minorities, including HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment for the most vulnerable populations.

Driving the news: Mustanski says the institute has lost about $8.9 million in funding as part of grant terminations announced last month.

Zoom in: One of the terminated grants was for the institute's research on how to make HIV services and treatments more accessible.

• The project started during Trump's first administration as part of the president's Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative, which had a goal of ending the epidemic by 2030.
• Another project that lost funding has followed more than 1,000 young gay and bisexual men for almost 20 years to understand how HIV has affected their overall health, and Mustanski is concerned that they'll lose track of the participants as they're forced to halt the research.

What they're saying: "We are on the precipice of being able to end HIV in our country," Mustanski says. "We have the tools to solve it, and the idea of using science to make sure that we're implementing these treatments and prevention approaches effectively can end HIV in the United States, but if we back off that, if we take our foot off the pedal, we will have more HIV cases in the United States."

The other side: NIH says it cut the funding because the research didn't support the agency's mission and did not "enhance health, lengthen life, or reduce illness."

• "Worse, so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion ("DEI") studies are often used to support unlawful discrimination on the basis of race and other protected characteristics," according to the termination letter obtained by Axios.

Zoom out: More than a dozen editors of sexual and gender-related science journals last month published an editorial criticizing the cuts: "Research into sexuality and gender is vital for identifying social, cultural, and medical needs of populations, and addressing inequalities across populations. Any limiting of research and forcing specific research agendas is an infringement on academic freedom and integrity."

• Nationwide, the NIH has terminated about 780 grants across multiple areas of research since February, including 31 in Illinois, according to an analysis by KFF Health News.

Reality check: Mustanski is more than a scientist. He's also an administrator who has to figure out how to keep the 48 employees who worked on the two canceled grant projects and find alternate funding to complete the research.

• "I spend all of my time either working on appeals for these terminations, begging donors for money to keep our work on life support, and then dealing with HR emergencies of people feeling like we have to urgently find other jobs for our staff, and we're kind of working around the clock to do that," Mustanski says with an exhausted sigh.

What's next: Mustanski has submitted appeals to reverse the terminations but hasn't heard back from NIH.