RFK Jr.’s HHS Axes $122 Million in DEI and LGBT Research

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has eliminated nearly $122 million in federal research grants that were focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and LGBT-related topics, as reported by The New York Post.

The decision impacts 195 projects that had been funded under prior administrations, and according to officials, was aimed at ensuring taxpayer dollars are directed toward broader medical research rather than programs narrowly centered on identity groups.

The Trump administration coordinated with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to review and ultimately cancel the grants, many of which had already received partial funding but spanned multiple years.

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Most of the cuts took effect in March, while some projects were terminated this month.

Among the largest canceled awards was $5.5 million from the National Cancer Institute to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for a program called “Vanderbilt FIRST,” which sought to recruit tenure-track faculty from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds.

Vanderbilt, with an endowment of more than $10 billion, ranked among the nation’s wealthiest universities, argued the funds would help “eliminate organizational barriers” to faculty advancement.

Drexel University in Philadelphia lost $4.6 million in funding for its “Catalyzing Systemic Change” project, which aimed to mentor early-stage diverse faculty in health disparities research.

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Similarly, the University of Virginia saw $2.4 million withdrawn from a grant by the National Institute of Mental Health for research into autism in female and gender-diverse individuals.

The University of Michigan lost $1.1 million for a National Institute on Aging project on improving inclusivity in dementia research for Asian Americans and Latinx populations.

More than $8 million was removed from Case Western University’s Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative of Northern Ohio, which focused on equity in clinical trial recruitment.

The University of California at San Francisco was stripped of $3.4 million that had been allocated for a study on racism affecting Asian-American seniors.

Other smaller projects were also ended, such as a $208,000 University of Washington study on Indigenous sexual minority men in Mesoamerica, and $576,000 from Loyola Marymount University for a gamified intervention aimed at mental health risks among sexual minority women.

Boston Medical Center lost a $31,691 grant that was set aside for dementia research in transgender populations. The University of Minnesota and Ohio State University both saw funding pulled for studies into HPV risks and vaccine interventions for gay and bisexual men.

Columbia University’s $814,000 project to study the effects of “intersectional stigma” on blood pressure among minority groups was also canceled.

The decision sparked backlash within HHS, leading to the resignation of Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

He cited disagreements with the new direction and the cancellation of “key research to support equity.” His resignation followed the firing of Dr. Susan Monarez, the Senate-confirmed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

HHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Rich Danker defended the changes, saying, “Under the Trump administration, the NIH’s medical research once again serves all Americans, and will no longer be co-opted for political agendas such as DEI.”

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