Latest news with #WalterWillett
Boston Globe
9 hours ago
- Health
- Boston Globe
Harvard has collected 3 million biological samples over decades. Now researchers may not have the money to preserve them.
The samples are kept at temperatures as low as minus-170 degrees Celsius (or minus-274 degrees Fahrenheit), in a network of liquid nitrogen freezers at the Chan School as well as at Brigham and Women's Hospital, according to 'If we really don't have any funding, we would lose the samples,' said Dr. Walter Willett, a Harvard professor and a principal investigator for the studies, in an interview. 'We're doing everything possible to not let that happen.' Advertisement The two programs affected are among the most comprehensive and long-running public health studies in the country. The Nurses' Health Study is A similar project, the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, tracks lifestyle and nutrition factors for men. Advertisement The two projects have yielded a number of landmark findings, including the link between alcohol consumption and breast cancer and the effects of trans fats on heart disease. The dataset generated from the massive project has informed countless additional studies by other researchers. Related : As part of the projects, researchers collected biological samples from roughly 350,000 individuals, monitoring various components, including nutrients, contaminants, and hormone levels. That research has been crucial to the growing understanding of factors that contribute to breast cancer, heart disease, and dementia, Willett said. 'Looking at what's going on inside the body a few decades before the disease occurs, that's what we can do [with the samples],' he said. 'That's really critical, because we know for many cancers, it's not what's in the blood or in the urine at the time of diagnosis, it's what was going on decades before that's probably most important. And we can go back to the samples and look at that today.' The collection of samples is among the most comprehensive in the world, Willett said. Its scientific potential — which will only increase as new research technologies are developed — is something that 'no amount of money can buy,' he added. Related : Both projects were funded in large part by two grants issued by the National Institute of Health's National Cancer Institute. Those grants were terminated on May 6, according to an affidavit filed by Willett June 2. Now, researchers are scrambling to keep the freezers running. Advertisement 'We have probably a couple of months worth of resources for paying our nitrogen bills,' Willett said. 'But the nitrogen company is very efficient in cutting off supply if we don't pay.' Though it's not clear exactly when the funding will run out, Willett said the research team may soon have to decide which samples are kept and which will be allowed to spoil. But because the sweeping nature of the study relies on having multiple samples from hundreds of thousands of people over a multi-year period, it's difficult to say which will be more useful for research purposes. 'We don't yet know who's going to get breast cancer,' Willett said. 'Which makes it impossible to predict exactly which samples will be the most valuable.' Nicole Romero examines samples on the campus of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on June 11, 2025. Kent Dayton/Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Camilo Fonseca can be reached at
CNN
23-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Millions of biosamples at risk due to Trump cuts
Millions of biosamples at risk due to Trump cuts The Trump administration just cut funding for two of the largest ongoing nutrition studies in its battle with Harvard, even as the MAHA Commission says more research is needed. CNN's Meg Tirrell tours Dr. Walter Willett's facility, which is on the verge of losing research that will take decades to recreate. 02:33 - Source: CNN Vertical Top News 17 videos Millions of biosamples at risk due to Trump cuts The Trump administration just cut funding for two of the largest ongoing nutrition studies in its battle with Harvard, even as the MAHA Commission says more research is needed. CNN's Meg Tirrell tours Dr. Walter Willett's facility, which is on the verge of losing research that will take decades to recreate. 02:33 - Source: CNN Satellite images show aftermath of North Korean launch failure North Korea's newest warship was severely damaged during a recent launch ceremony. Leader Kim Jong Un said the incident brought shame to the nation's prestige and vowed to punish those found responsible, state media reported. 01:33 - Source: CNN Body language expert offers her advice on how to approach Trump In the wake of the White House's Oval Office ambush of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, body language expert Susan Constantine tells CNN's Max Foster that being an active listener is key for any future leader's meeting with President Donald Trump. 01:36 - Source: CNN New government report echoes RFK Jr beliefs around chronic disease First MAHA health report under Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sheds light on the Trump Administration's plans to overhaul government policy to "Make America Healthy Again." CNN's Meg Tirrell explains. 01:11 - Source: CNN Inside the GOP negotiations to pass Trump's agenda bill CNN's Manu Raju breaks down how President Trump and House Republican leadership managed to win the support of a key bloc of conservative hardliners to pass Trump's agenda bill, and looks ahead to the obstacles the bill may face in the Senate. 02:26 - Source: CNN Republican warns of increasing debt hours before Trump's bill passes House Republicans passed President Donald Trump's sweeping tax and spending cuts package early this morning. During a House floor debate in the early hours of Thursday morning, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) strongly criticized the bill. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that Trump's bill will add $3.8 trillion to US debt. 00:49 - Source: CNN See moment House Republicans passed a major part of Trump's agenda House Republicans passed President Donald Trump's sweeping tax and spending cuts package, marking a stunning victory for both Johnson and Trump after the bill appeared doomed just days earlier 00:52 - Source: CNN Dem says Trump admin cuts in blue states are 'distasteful' The Trump administration has made cuts to funding for flood prevention projects in blue states, whereas new water construction opportunities have taken course in red states, according to a data analysis. CNN's Annie Grayer reports. 02:33 - Source: CNN Dior to pay $2M to help labor abuse victims Dior has agreed a number of remedies to settle an Italian competition authority investigation into whether the luxury brand and two of its units misled consumers with their statements about working conditions at its suppliers. CNN's Max Foster reports. 01:36 - Source: CNN See "Cheers" star George Wendt's most memorable moments Actor and comedian George Wendt, beloved for his performance as Norm Peterson on the long-running comedy series "Cheers" has died aged 76. Wendt's career spanned more than four decades, and included six consecutive Emmy nominations. CNN looks back at some of his best moments. 00:57 - Source: CNN Kermit the Frog's advice for 2025 graduates and what he learned from 'the school of life' The University of Maryland's 2025 commencement speaker Kermit the Frog shares his advice for graduates with CNN's Sara Sidner. 01:14 - Source: CNN Have federal cuts left U.S. unprepared for natural disasters? Sometime between tomorrow and 200 years from now, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake will rock the United States. Scientists say we're not ready for it. And with the federal employees who have left or been fired under the Trump administration, that's only getting worse. CNN's Ella Nilsen spoke to scientists and former federal workers about how these cuts leave the US unprepared for natural disasters. 02:03 - Source: CNN Climber rescued by helicopter after 30-foot fall in California A helicopter rescue crew hoisted a climber to safety after they fell roughly 30 feet while scaling Lily Rock in Idyllwild, California. The climber was left clinging to the cliffside with a limb injury. 00:49 - Source: CNN Columbia students chant, 'Free Mahmoud' at commencement Videos show Columbia University students booing the acting university president, Claire Shipman, during her commencement speech. Some students at the school have been on edge since Mahmoud Khalil was detained by ICE for participating in campus protests. 01:07 - Source: CNN Cassie Ventura's mom feared for daughter's safety with 'Diddy' Cassie Ventura's mother Regina Ventura took the stand at Sean 'Diddy' Combs' trial in New York, where Ventura testified about incidents she witnessed during her daughter's relationship with Combs that left her 'scared for my daughter's safety.' 02:57 - Source: CNN FDA tightens requirements for Covid-19 vaccine The FDA is changing how it approves Covid-19 vaccines, which may restrict updated shots to the elderly and people with underlying health conditions who are at higher risk for severe disease. 01:10 - Source: CNN
CNN
23-05-2025
- Health
- CNN
MAHA calls for more funding, but WH axed crucial nutrition studies
The Trump administration just cut funding for two of the largest ongoing nutrition studies in its battle with Harvard, even as the MAHA Commission says more research is needed. CNN's Meg Tirrell tours Dr. Walter Willett's facility, which is on the verge of losing research that will take decades to recreate.
CNN
08-05-2025
- Health
- CNN
Exclusive: Treasure trove of biological data that transformed science may be lost to Trump funding cuts
Donald TrumpFacebookTweetLink Follow A priceless treasure trove of biodata gathered from generations of Americans by Harvard University researchers may soon be lost due to additional funding cuts by the Trump administration, a leading nutrition researcher told CNN. The latest round of cuts to Harvard by the Trump administration will halt funding for the upkeep of dozens of giant freezers filled with DNA, blood, urine, stool and tissue samples used for ongoing research, said Dr. Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. Researchers gathered the samples over decades as part of the Nurse's Health Study, one of the largest and longest investigations ever done on women's risk factors for chronic disease. Another long-term study, the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, has chronicled the health and diet of men via questionnaires. 'We've been following almost 300,000 women and another 50,000 men for about 45 years,' said Willett, who has published over 2,000 original research papers and reviews on the link between nutrition and health. The biological samples and data from both studies have led to major advances in science, including the discovery of the dangers of trans fats and the subsequent ban from the US food supply; the link between obesity and breast cancer, even in adolescents; and the connection between cigarette smoking and heart disease. 'We are scrambling to try to protect the samples and the data we have,' Willett said. 'We can't last more than a few weeks, a couple of months, depending on which aspect of the study we're talking about. But we're on a short timeline now, unless we get some additional funding.' Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, which receives 46% of its funding from the federal government, was already reeling from the $2.2 billion cuts in federal grants and contracts announced by the Trump administration in mid-April. 'The federal government has a responsibility to ensure that taxpayer dollars do not flow to institutions that allow open harassment of Jewish students or tolerate antisemitic intimidation,' said Andrew Nixon, director of communications for the US Department of Health and Human Services, which manages research grants to institutions. 'That includes Harvard. No university will be given a pass on ignoring civil rights. If Harvard wants continued federal support, it must uphold basic standards of safety, lawfulness, and equal protection — for all students, including Jewish students. That is non-negotiable,' Nixon said in an email. However, the carefully preserved biological samples, accompanied by decades of disease follow-up data, offer tremendous opportunities for research, said Dr. Wei Zheng, an assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. He has used the Harvard data in his research. 'They are fundamental to identifying biomarkers for early detection of diseases, understanding risk factors, and informing effective prevention strategies, Zheng said in an email. 'The irreplaceable nature of these samples underscores their critical role in advancing medical knowledge and improving public health outcomes.' The biodata from the Nurse's Health Study sits in row after row of large freezers, kept cold by liquid nitrogen, an expense that Willett says adds up to several hundred thousand dollars a year. That amount doesn't include funds for staff who access and analyze the samples or supplies for the labs where the work is done. 'We have blood that we use for DNA — we can look at nutrients in those samples, hormones. We have urine samples where we can measure other things, contaminants, for example, that are excreted. We have toenail clippings that are good for trace metals,' Willett explained. 'We have stool samples and oral samples that can be used for microbiome analysis that have been collected specifically for that purpose,' he added. 'We also have tumor tissues from many thousands of women who developed breast cancer, so we can go back and look at the specific characteristics in those cancer tissues.' Willett and his team were the first to link alcohol consumption, even in modest amounts, to breast cancer — alcohol use is now widely considered a known risk factor for a cancer that kills over 42,000 women a year. Data from the long-term studies can also inform and even change prior research. Research by the prestigious Framingham Heart Study in the 1970s and 1980s concluded that 'smoking was a risk factor for heart disease in men, but not in women,' Willett said. Data from the Nurse's Health Study, however, found the link applied to women as well. It's not just Willett's team members who access this data. 'We have several hundred investigators around the US, and some in other countries, too, that use this for their own research. It really is a national resource,' he said. There is also exciting research yet to come. Some study participants are now reaching 100 years old, and the data will soon be able to determine what behaviors over the decades may lead to longer lives — research Willett said will never happen if the thousands of dollars needed to keep the work safe disappears. 'One of the really big questions people have is: 'How could I live to 95, or 100, and still have good cognitive function, good physical function?' And we're just coming to that point in our study where we can do that,' he said. 'In the younger part of the cohort, we've also collected data on what they were consuming during their adolescent years, and so just now, we're starting to get a good view of what people were eating while they were teenagers. How is that related to cancer?' The elimination of all research grants to Harvard was announced Monday evening in a three-page letter to the university from Education Secretary Linda McMahon. In that letter, she accused Harvard of 'ugly racism' and 'violating federal law,' and said the university will 'cease to be a publicly funded institution and can instead operate as a privately-funded institution.' 'I'm not too sure why people would suffer when Harvard has a $53 billion endowment that I believe they could fund a lot of these projects with, and there are donors who are very willing to give large amounts of money to Harvard,' McMahon told CNBC's Sara Eisen on Tuesday. University endowments aren't as easy to access as bank accounts. Most funds have to be maintained in perpetuity and access is largely restricted, often by stipulations from donors. About 80% of Harvard's $53.2 billion endowment is earmarked for financial aid, scholarships, faculty chairs, academic programs or other projects, according to the school. The remaining 20% is intended to sustain the institution for years to come. Harvard says it has been funding nearly two-thirds of its operating expenses from other sources, including federal research grants and student tuition. The university has filed a lawsuit in Boston federal court against the administration, saying it 'will not surrender its independence or its constitutional rights.' 'The Government has not — and cannot — identify any rational connection between antisemitism concerns and the medical, scientific, technological, and other research it has frozen that aims to save American lives, foster American success, preserve American security, and maintain America's position as a global leader in innovation,' the lawsuit said. CNN's Kara Scannell and Eric Levenson contributed to this report.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Exclusive: Treasure trove of biological data that transformed science may be lost to Trump funding cuts
A priceless treasure trove of biodata gathered from generations of Americans by Harvard University researchers may soon be lost due to additional funding cuts by the Trump administration, a leading nutrition researcher told CNN. The latest round of cuts to Harvard by the Trump administration will halt funding for the upkeep of dozens of giant freezers filled with DNA, blood, urine, stool and tissue samples used for ongoing research, said Dr. Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. Researchers gathered the samples over decades as part of the Nurse's Health Study, one of the largest and longest investigations ever done on women's risk factors for chronic disease. Another long-term study, the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, has chronicled the health and diet of men via questionnaires. 'We've been following almost 300,000 women and another 50,000 men for about 45 years,' said Willett, who has published over 2,000 original research papers and reviews on the link between nutrition and health. The biological samples and data from both studies have led to major advances in science, including the discovery of the dangers of trans fats and the subsequent ban from the US food supply; the link between obesity and breast cancer, even in adolescents; and the connection between cigarette smoking and heart disease. 'We are scrambling to try to protect the samples and the data we have,' Willett said. 'We can't last more than a few weeks, a couple of months, depending on which aspect of the study we're talking about. But we're on a short timeline now, unless we get some additional funding.' Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, which receives 46% of its funding from the federal government, was already reeling from the $2.2 billion cuts in federal grants and contracts announced by the Trump administration in mid-April. 'The federal government has a responsibility to ensure that taxpayer dollars do not flow to institutions that allow open harassment of Jewish students or tolerate antisemitic intimidation,' said Andrew Nixon, director of communications for the US Department of Health and Human Services, which manages research grants to institutions. 'That includes Harvard. No university will be given a pass on ignoring civil rights. If Harvard wants continued federal support, it must uphold basic standards of safety, lawfulness, and equal protection — for all students, including Jewish students. That is non-negotiable,' Nixon said in an email. However, the carefully preserved biological samples, accompanied by decades of disease follow-up data, offer tremendous opportunities for research, said Dr. Wei Zheng, an assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. He has used the Harvard data in his research. 'They are fundamental to identifying biomarkers for early detection of diseases, understanding risk factors, and informing effective prevention strategies, Zheng said in an email. 'The irreplaceable nature of these samples underscores their critical role in advancing medical knowledge and improving public health outcomes.' The biodata from the Nurse's Health Study sits in row after row of large freezers, kept cold by liquid nitrogen, an expense that Willett says adds up to several hundred thousand dollars a year. That amount doesn't include funds for staff who access and analyze the samples or supplies for the labs where the work is done. 'We have blood that we use for DNA — we can look at nutrients in those samples, hormones. We have urine samples where we can measure other things, contaminants, for example, that are excreted. We have toenail clippings that are good for trace metals,' Willett explained. 'We have stool samples and oral samples that can be used for microbiome analysis that have been collected specifically for that purpose,' he added. 'We also have tumor tissues from many thousands of women who developed breast cancer, so we can go back and look at the specific characteristics in those cancer tissues.' Willett and his team were the first to link alcohol consumption, even in modest amounts, to breast cancer — alcohol use is now widely considered a known risk factor for a cancer that kills over 42,000 women a year. Data from the long-term studies can also inform and even change prior research. Research by the prestigious Framingham Heart Study in the 1970s and 1980s concluded that 'smoking was a risk factor for heart disease in men, but not in women,' Willett said. Data from the Nurse's Health Study, however, found the link applied to women as well. It's not just Willett's team members who access this data. 'We have several hundred investigators around the US, and some in other countries, too, that use this for their own research. It really is a national resource,' he said. There is also exciting research yet to come. Some study participants are now reaching 100 years old, and the data will soon be able to determine what behaviors over the decades may lead to longer lives — research Willett said will never happen if the thousands of dollars needed to keep the work safe disappears. 'One of the really big questions people have is: 'How could I live to 95, or 100, and still have good cognitive function, good physical function?' And we're just coming to that point in our study where we can do that,' he said. 'In the younger part of the cohort, we've also collected data on what they were consuming during their adolescent years, and so just now, we're starting to get a good view of what people were eating while they were teenagers. How is that related to cancer?' The elimination of all research grants to Harvard was announced Monday evening in a three-page letter to the university from Education Secretary Linda McMahon. In that letter, she accused Harvard of 'ugly racism' and 'violating federal law,' and said the university will 'cease to be a publicly funded institution and can instead operate as a privately-funded institution.' 'I'm not too sure why people would suffer when Harvard has a $53 billion endowment that I believe they could fund a lot of these projects with, and there are donors who are very willing to give large amounts of money to Harvard,' McMahon told CNBC's Sara Eisen on Tuesday. University endowments aren't as easy to access as bank accounts. Most funds have to be maintained in perpetuity and access is largely restricted, often by stipulations from donors. About 80% of Harvard's $53.2 billion endowment is earmarked for financial aid, scholarships, faculty chairs, academic programs or other projects, according to the school. The remaining 20% is intended to sustain the institution for years to come. Harvard says it has been funding nearly two-thirds of its operating expenses from other sources, including federal research grants and student tuition. The university has filed a lawsuit in Boston federal court against the administration, saying it 'will not surrender its independence or its constitutional rights.' 'The Government has not — and cannot — identify any rational connection between antisemitism concerns and the medical, scientific, technological, and other research it has frozen that aims to save American lives, foster American success, preserve American security, and maintain America's position as a global leader in innovation,' the lawsuit said. CNN's Kara Scannell and Eric Levenson contributed to this report.
