COVID-19 research funds 'were issued for a limited purpose: to ameliorate the effects of the pandemic', according to an internal NIH document that Nature has obtained and that provides the agency's staff members with updated guidance on how to terminate these grants. 'Now that the pandemic is over, the grant funds are no longer necessary,' the document states. It is not clear how many COVID-19 grants will be terminated. The crackdown on COVID-19 research comes as the NIH under US President Donald Trump has halted nearly 400 grants in the past month. An earlier version of the documents, obtained by Nature on 5 March, directed staff to identify and potentially cancel projects on transgender populations; gender identity; diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the scientific workforce; and environmental justice. The NIH, which is the world's largest public funder of biomedical research, has awarded grants to nearly 600 ongoing projects that include 'COVID' in the title, worth nearly...
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