US NIH director says hopeful will settle with universities over suspended grants
WASHINGTON, June 10 (Reuters) - National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya told a U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday he was hopeful that President Donald Trump's administration would reach a settlement with universities that have had research grants suspended.
"I'm very hopeful that a resolution being made with the universities where those decisions have been made, where those grants have been paused," Bhattacharya said while appearing at a hearing of the Senate Appropriation Committee's Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies on the NIH's 2026 budget request.
The NIH has terminated 2,100 research grants totaling about $9.5 billion and an additional $2.6 billion in contracts since Trump took office Jan. 20, dozens of scientists, researchers and other employees at the agency said in a public letter. The contracts often support research, from covering equipment to nursing staff working on clinical trials.
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