Whitney Wharton doesn’t cry much. But Feb. 28 was an exception.
On a Friday night she said she’ll never forget, the Emory University associate professor was informed that her four-year grant for Alzheimer’s research had been canceled. According to an email from the National Institutes of Health, the project “no longer effectuates agency priorities.”
She is one of many university researchers across the state and country to see their federal grants yanked in recent months, killing projects the Trump administration claims promote diversity, equity and inclusion. Wharton says the administration took issue with her grant, awarded in 2021, because it focused on the LGBTQ community, including transgender patients.
Data shows that the LGBTQ community is at higher risk of Alzheimer’s than most, and Wharton says studying a high-risk group is the most efficient way to help all patients battling the disease for which there is currently no cure.
“It will ultimately lower the incidence and prevalence of the disease, which does help the larger community because it’s going to reduce taxpayer dollars,” said Wharton, who was in year three of the award. “We’ve already spent over $1.7 million, so this is going to be a sunk cost for the American taxpayer.”
Of the 1,057 participants in Wharton’s study, 37 were transgender.
Lost grants mean lost jobs, and potentially lost young scientists, who may turn to more stable careers. University of Georgia professor Erin Dolan also lost an NIH grant providing research training to underrepresented groups. “How are you going to train the next generation of researchers without research training grants?” she said.
Lost grants also mean some disease research comes to a halt, leaving patients high and dry. Wharton, currently working on other grants that haven’t been cancelled, had to take down a webpage that provided resources specifically tailored for LGBTQ Alzheimer’s patients.
“Limiting the care or resources for a group that is more at risk for a disease than other groups. How is that going to benefit all Americans?” Wharton asked.
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