Is it Possible for Medical Research to Cease in the United States?

Some seem to think it is possible with Robert Kennedy Jr. at the helm of the Health and Human Services.

The first part of this commentary is taken from Hullabaloo, “Will They Kill Cancer Research?” – Digby’s Hullabaloo. Digsby uses much of an NPR article to portray what many are beginning to believe may happen now the vaccine denier Robert Kennedy is Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Public Citizen said: “Robert F Kennedy Jr is a clear and present danger to the nation’s health. He shouldn’t be allowed in the building at the department of Health and Human Services (HHS), let alone be placed in charge of the nation’s public health agency.

NIH research cuts target vaccine hesitancy. mRNA technology could be next, NPR

The Trump administration is slashing long-standing areas of research funded by the National Institutes of Health, claiming they no longer align with the agency’s priorities.

The latest target?

Millions of dollars in NIH grants for studying vaccine hesitancy and how to improve immunization levels. It’s work that is particularly relevant now that a measles outbreak grips the Southwest amidst diminishing vaccination rates.

In recent weeks, scientists around the country have begun receiving letters stating their existing grants — money already awarded to them in a competitive process — were being cut. At first, the cuts appeared to primarily target research on LGBTQ+ health and other areas that were deemed in conflict with President Trump’s executive orders on gender and “diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Now, more than 40 grants related to vaccine hesitancy have been cancelled, and there are mounting concerns that research on mRNA vaccines could be on the chopping block next.

NPR obtained information about the changes from two NIH staffers and one person familiar with NIH’s activities who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. And, NPR reviewed emails and documents they provided.

“I want to underscore just how unprecedented — how abnormal all of this is,” one longtime NIH official told NPR. “This is not how we operate.”

An email circulated among NIH leadership this week included a list of grants that were to be terminated and details on the specific language to use in those notices. “It is the policy of NIH not to prioritize research activities that focuses gaining scientific knowledge on why individuals are hesitant to be vaccinated and/or explore ways to improve vaccine interest and commitment,” the email states.

It’s unclear exactly how many grants have been cancelled in total under the Trump administration. Neither the NIH nor its parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, replied to NPR’s request for comment.

“It appears that there are forces intent on destroying our existing vaccine enterprise,” says Dr. Jonathan Temte, a professor of family medicine at the University of Wisconsin who studies vaccine hesitancy. “Defunding research on vaccine hesitancy is the latest example of this effort.”

mRNA research may be at risk

In what some at the agency view as an ominous sign, the NIH’s acting director Dr. Matthew Memoli also requested information last week about the funding that supports mRNA vaccine research, technology that underpins the COVID-19 shots from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, according to an email reviewed by NPR. A similar call for data preceded the termination of the other vaccine grants.

“NIH staff internally are very worried that the mRNA grants will follow the outcome of the vaccine hesitancy grants and be terminated,” according to one of the NIH employees who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. “There are widespread concerns that this will limit the ability to combat pandemics and halt promising lifesaving cancer treatments.”

NPR reviewed the NIH list of 130 of these awards issued by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, or NIAID, which funds the most mRNA research. This includes efforts to develop vaccines for a variety of diseases, including Lyme disease, dengue and a sometimes life-threatening gastrointestinal infection known as Clostridium difficile.

Other parts of the NIH like the National Cancer Institute also fund this work, because mRNA technology holds promise for targeted cancer treatment.

“I am on pins and needles constantly,” says Justin Richner, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Illinois, Chicago. “I’m really kind of waiting for the shoe to drop in terms of looking for the email saying the grant has been canceled.”

Richner’s $1 million, 4-year NIH grant is on the agency’s internal list. His lab is working to develop an mRNA vaccine to protect against dengue, a mosquito-borne viral disease that affects millions of people worldwide and is spreading in the U.S.

“It’s an outrageous incursion on the way in which the NIH is managing the money that’s been appropriated by Congress,” says Dr. Harold Varmus, a Nobel Prize winning professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College who ran the NIH from 1993 to 1999. “The idea that we’re going to turn one of the most prestigious aspects of federally supported activities into a graveyard is very troubling to everybody.”

Aaron Scherer, a researcher at the University of Iowa who studies vaccine hesitancy, says his grants are not canceled as far as he knows, but given what’s happening, he assumes the NIH will not be funding his future proposal “regardless of its scientific and health merits.”

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But suppose NIH cuts funding for vaccine development?

“MRNA Vaccines, Once a Trump Boast, Now Face Attacks From Some in GOP,” KFF Health News.

What KFF believes could happen in this partial rewrite of the article.

Suppose the NIH staff are right in their concerns of the mRNA grants following the outcome of what happened to the vaccine hesitancy grants being terminated. Bird flu vaccine development for humans turned out to be cutting-edge technology enabling the rapid development of lifesaving covid shots. Amongst Republicans mRNA technology faced and is facing doubts. The doubts include those in Trump’s circle.

GOP lawmakers in at least seven states proposed legislation with the intent of banning or limiting mRNA vaccines. The bans or limits would include measures to punish doctors who give the injections with criminal penalties, fines, and a possible revocation of their licenses.

Amongst congressional Republicans, some are pressuring regulators to revoke federal approval for mRNA-based covid shots. Donald Trump touted such as one of the signature achievements of his first term.

Vaccines using mRNA have applications well beyond avian flu and covid. Such research holds the promise of developing lifesaving breakthroughs to treat many diseases. Diseases from melanoma to HIV to Zika, according to clinical trials. The proposed bans could block access to these advances.

mRNA is found naturally in human cells. It is a molecule that carries genetic material. In a vaccine, it trains the body’s immune system to fight viruses, cancer cells, and other conditions. An advantage of mRNA technology is it can be developed quickly to target specific variants and is safer than developing a vaccine made from inactivated virus.

“Right now, if we had a bird flu pandemic, we would have a shortage of the vaccine we need,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. “The one thing that could save us is mRNA vaccine. The challenge would be if mRNA is banned. This is truly dangerous policy.”