NIH cuts millions in Oregon health grants
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The National Institutes of Health has terminated millions of dollars in research grants, including some focused on opioid-use prevention and tribal health care access, at Oregon universities and government agencies.
Why it matters: NIH has cut funding for at least 10 research projects and health programs at the University of Oregon, Oregon Health & Science University and the Oregon Health Authority, the state agency responsible for providing low-cost public health care.
- Oregon is one of 22 states suing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and NIH over funding cuts.
Zoom in: NIH cuts targeted the work of one of the University of Oregon's research programs aimed at reducing suicide risk in rural Oregon and another focused on aiding intravenous drug users at high risk for infectious diseases.
- "Halting in-progress research not only harms the communities served by the work, it suspends important training for graduate students, the next generation of scientists," Anshuman Razdan, vice president for research and innovation at the university, told Axios in an email statement.
Meanwhile, OHSU — the state's leading medical research center — stands to lose $80 million in funding if the proposed rate change notice goes through, according to the multi-state lawsuit.
- The grants support ongoing clinical trials and could "directly impact patient care" if lost.
- A federal judge later granted a temporary freeze.
Threat level: By far the biggest cuts to hit the state came from last week's abrupt termination of roughly $117 million in COVID-era grants and funding for OHA programs — a year or more before some were scheduled to end.
- The funds helped Oregon run statewide immunization clinics and established its 988 mental health crisis line as well as a division to train rural and tribal health care providers, according to a press release.
- OHA said it is currently evaluating the terminations, "including whether they are legal."
The latest: The HHS, which oversees NIH, is cutting 10,000 jobs from the department.
What they're saying: The NIH did not respond to Axios' question about why the HHS chose to terminate specific grants.
- But White House spokesperson Kush Desai told Axios last month that the administration was committed to "restoring transparency with how our taxpayer dollars are being spent while cutting waste and bureaucratic overhead."