The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has terminated at least one grant supporting a scientist investigating mRNA vaccines against COVID-19, amid fears that more grants may be cancelled. The agency has also requested information on its investment in mRNA vaccine research, sparking concerns among NIH staff.
A recent email instructed staff to compile a list of grants for studying mRNA technology, including current and planned projects. This deadline came just days after the acting NIH director Matthew Memoli requested data on the agency’s investments in mRNA vaccines research.
The move has worried scientists, who are now advising grant applicants not to mention mRNA vaccines in their proposals, despite it being a recommended practice by individual programme officers. “To take away a tool to fight infectious diseases that has been shown to be effective — it’s hard to fathom that we’d do this as a society,” says one scientist.
This development comes after the NIH terminated over 40 grants for studying vaccine hesitancy in February, citing a policy not to prioritize research on vaccine hesitancy. The agency is now under scrutiny from politicians and anti-vaccine advocates, who have called for moratoriums on mRNA vaccines.
Despite its benefits, including saving over 14 million lives worldwide, mRNA vaccine technology faces increasing pressure from some US officials, who claim it causes cancer and is not safe. “Never in my life did I think that the government would turn against a field of research for non-scientific reasons,” says immunologist Drew Weissman, who received the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for laying the groundwork for mRNA vaccines.
The NIH has declined to comment on whether mRNA vaccine research will be terminated or if scientists’ concerns are valid.
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00828-3