Latest news with #BrittanyCharlton
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Harvard Medical researcher sues NIH for cutting grant to study LGBTQ mental health
An associate professor at Harvard Medical School is suing the National Institutes of Health after her funding to study the mental health of young LGBTQ people was cut, affecting a team of 18 researchers and causing students to fear for their safety. 'These grant terminations have broader implications. When science is silenced by ideology, we all lose,' Brittany Charlton — who is also an associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the founding director of the LGBTQ Health Center of Excellence — said in the lawsuit. For more than 15 years, Charlton has received more than 15 grants and was awarded an R61 grant from the NIH. This last grant 'aimed at time-sensitive policy questions, to study the impact of discriminatory and supportive legislation on the mental health of LGBTQ young people,' the lawsuit, filed earlier this month in federal court but updated Friday, read. 'The overarching goal of the R61 project was to understand how four types of LGBTQ-related policies — religious exemptions, healthcare bans, restrictive curricula, and supportive curricula — impact mental health in late adolescence and early adulthood,' Charlton said in the lawsuit. 'The findings would offer timely, evidence-based guidance to help healthcare providers, educators, and policymakers improve mental health for all young people, not just those who are LGBTQ.' The act of applying for the grant 'was an intense and compressed process,' with only months to write the application to secure five years of funding,' she wrote. Family events, professional obligations and personal milestones had to be 'set aside" in order for her to receive the grant in a timely manner. NIH had previously approved $4.15 million in grant money, with the project launched in August 2024, Charlton wrote. In February, she received a no-cost, two-month extension on her grant that was to last until April 30. To Charlton, this was unusual; she contacted her program officer for context and their supervisor and received no responses. Then, NIH terminated her funding on March 12. 'This award no longer effectuates agency priorities,' NIH told Charlton, according to the lawsuit. '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.' 'Before the termination, I had never received any previous indication that my grant was in jeopardy,' she wrote. '... I do not understand what the termination notice and revised Notice of Award mean by 'gender identity' or 'biological realities' concerning my project.' When Charlton spoke with an NIH program officer, the officer told her that she had never seen any such terminations while working at the agency, the lawsuit stated. 'This program officer expressed that she did not understand how anonymous decision-makers not familiar with the details of the project had concluded that 'no corrective action is possible' or that the project conflicted with agency priorities — particularly as I had responded to a specific Notice of Funding Opportunity that sought out projects addressing this particular topic,' Charlton wrote. Terminations for grants while applicants are in the middle of their projects are 'highly unusual and inconsistent with established precedent,' she added. Without her portfolio of grants, Charlton wrote that she's now lost her own salary and the salaries of the 18 people who work with her at the LGBTQ Health Center of Excellence. She has had to fire one senior member of her team and 'fear I will have to terminate all remaining team members.' 'The termination of this research has upended the lives and careers of dozens of my team members — master's students, doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and staff, many of whom relocated or made life-altering commitments to pursue this work," she wrote. One student took medical leave to address their mental health following the terminations 'and may never return to the field,' Charlton continued. Another team member went on leave due to the stress that the terminations caused. 'The threats to our work don't just make me fear for my career — they make me fear for my safety,' one team member told Charlton, according to the lawsuit. 'I wonder whether this country still has a place for people like me.' 'These grant terminations are not just the loss of individual careers — it is the quiet dismantling of a generation of future leaders in medicine and public health, and with them, the hope for a more equitable future," Charlton wrote. 'These grant terminations have broader implications. When science is silenced by ideology, we all lose,' she continued. 'If research on marginalized communities can be erased for political reasons, it sets a dangerous precedent: that some lives are less worthy of understanding, care, or protection. This is not just an attack on the LGBTQ community — it is a blow to the integrity of science and the health of every American." Trump's $2.2B funding freeze for Harvard would hit cancer research, battlefield medicine and more Trump is threatening to block international students from Harvard. Is that legal? Could Trump's crackdown on foreign students exacerbate declining college enrollment? Harvard has a $53 billion endowment. Could it be a weapon in its fight against Trump?
The Guardian
02-04-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
NIH sued over ‘ideological purge' of DEI, Covid and vaccine research
A group of public health experts and major labor organizations are suing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) over what they call an 'ongoing ideological purge' of scientific research. In a legal complaint filed on Wednesday, the American Public Health Association; United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW); and other health experts say the NIH has abruptly canceled hundreds of grants since February 2025. The complaint says the cuts have targeted research tied to topics like diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), gender identity, vaccine hesitancy, and even work involving collaborators in other countries. These cancellations, they argue, provide a 'window into the devastation to medical and scientific research playing out across the nation right now'. The lawsuit claims that NIH broke from its usual science-based review process and started shutting down projects based on 'vague' new priorities. It alleges that the organization often justified cancellations by saying the research 'no longer effectuates agency priorities'. Researchers affected by the cuts include those studying Alzheimer's disease, pregnancy health disparities, and HIV prevention. In total, about $17bn in grants have been revoked or frozen, including $7.5bn already spent on projects that are now shut down, the complaint says. 'Ending these NIH grants wastes taxpayer money and years of hard work to answer the world's most pressing biomedical questions. This is an attack on scientific progress itself,' Brittany Charlton, a plaintiff and associate professor at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, said in a statement. 'Important discoveries and treatments will be delayed, putting lives at risk. Health issues in one community affect everyone, so this concerns us all,' Charlton added. The complaint also describes how, following a wave of executive orders from Donald Trump aimed at eliminating DEI programs and 'gender ideology' from the federal government, NIH leadership began circulating internal memos instructing staff to identify and halt grants that mentioned those topics. But the suit alleges that the 'purge of critical research projects' went beyond DEI. The NIH's 'eradication of peer-reviewed science has not stopped at topics deemed to be related to gender or DEI', the complaint states. 'Defendants' ideological purity Directives also seek to cancel research deemed related to 'vaccine hesitancy,' 'COVID,' and studies involving entities located in South Africa and China, among other things.' The agency also reportedly blocked funding applications mid-review and scrubbed DEI-related language from its website. If these cuts continue, 'scientific advancement will be delayed, treatments will go undiscovered, human health will be compromised, and lives will be lost', the lawsuit warns. 'This will have devastating consequences for those relying on government progress on HIV, Alzheimer's, diabetes, or other public health challenges, if not reversed by the courts,' said Peter G Lurie, a plaintiff and president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Scientist speaks out after NIH terminates grants including study of LGBTQ+ teens' mental health
A researcher who was one of many to have their grants terminated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is speaking out about how the halting of such research could have harmful effects. Recently, several active research grants related to studies involving LGBTQ+ issues, gender identity and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) were canceled at the NIH. According to termination letters sent to researchers at various universities that were reviewed by ABC News, the canceled projects do not serve the "priorities" of the current administration. Among those to receive letters was Dr. Brittany Charlton, an associate professor in the department of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. MORE: Judge blocks Trump administration's move to cut billions in NIH scientific funding Charlton told ABC News all of her grants have been terminated as of Friday, meaning she has lost all of her funding. "Watching scientific research grants be terminated because of what appears to be political suppression is devastating," she said. Among Charlton's grants terminated was a five-year grant, of which Charlton and her colleagues were on year four, 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. A third was research looking to understand how discriminatory laws, such as so-called "Don't Say Gay" bills, impact mental health among LGBTQ+ teens and potentially lead to depression and suicide. She said this specific grant had 4.5 more years and millions of dollars left at the time of termination. "Having our NIH funding be terminated is unprecedented and deeply concerning," Charlton said. "NIH grants undergo a highly competitive review process, and terminations are extremely rare. This decision seems to be based solely on the perceived conflict with the recent executive order related to 'gender ideology,' rather than our work's merit or scientific rigor." The termination comes as President Donald Trump has passed a flurry of executive orders including vowing to "defend women from gender ideology extremism," which has led to new guidance, like that from the Department of Health and Human Services, 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 premise…is incompatible with agency priorities, and no modification of the project could align the project with agency priorities," the letters continue. The White House did not return ABC News' requests for comment. In a statement to ABC News, the NIH said, "In accordance with the Presidential Memo 'Radical Transparency About Wasteful Spending', information on NIH's terminated grants may be accessed through this website." Charlton said her research would add to a growing body of evidence showing that anti-LGBTQ+ legislation can have a harmful effect on mental health. One 2021 analysis found a small but statistically significant increase in texts to Crisis Text Line from LGBTQ+ youth in the four weeks after anti-LGBTQ+ legislation was proposed. Another 2023 study, from Yale School of Public Health, found Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ youth who live in states with discriminatory policies were more likely to experience symptoms of depression compared to those who live in states with LGBTQ+ protections. MORE: Trump administration fires workers at NIH's Alzheimer's research center, including incoming director "This research is vital for assessing the real-world implications of policies that disproportionately affect the LGBTQ community. Halting this work undermines efforts to address mental health inequities," Charlton said. However, she said it's not only LGBTQ+ populations who will be affected by such research coming to a stop. "This termination has broader implications, not just for the LGBTQ community but for all Americans. It sets a concerning precedent where scientific inquiry is stifled by political rhetoric, potentially erasing entire communities from research agendas," she continued. Charlton said she will have to find funding to continue her research, otherwise she will have to shutter the LGBTQ Health Center of Excellence -- based at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health -- of which she is the founding director. She added that the termination of the NIH grants "emphasizes the need for support from private foundations and philanthropists" which, while important, "cannot fully replace the comprehensive scope of NIH funding." Earlier this month, an NIH official with knowledge of the matter, who requested anonymity, confirmed to ABC News that NIH institutes and centers are being asked to review awards for new and ongoing projects to ensure they do not "contain any DEI research activities or DEI language that give the perception that NIH funds can be used to support these activities." Sources told ABC News the termination of grants does not appear to be very organized, leading to the termination of grants without any DEI focus, but which contain words such as "diversity" to describe a term in the paper. Scientist speaks out after NIH terminates grants including study of LGBTQ+ teens' mental health originally appeared on
