The Cost of Cuts: How NIH Funding Cuts Disrupted Ohio State Research

By Mariam Abaza | Lantern TV Special Projects Producer

Image Credit: Geoff Livingston [CC BY 2.0], via Flickr

Scientific research projects across the nation came to a sudden halt in early 2025, when the Federal Administration terminated nearly $3.8 billion in National Institutes of Health grant funding.

Ohio State researchers were not immune to this decision, and dozens of university research studies were terminated due to loss in funding. According to Grant Witness, a database that tracks grant funding cuts in the current federal administration, Ohio State researchers lost nearly $20 million in NIH funding.

NIH cuts disproportionately affected research projects related to enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, citing a desire to eliminate waste and bias in government funding research.

Ohio universities and research institutions experienced at least 41 NIH grants disruptions, with 18 grant disruptions recorded at Ohio State. On a national level, NIH terminated or indefinitely froze about $2.3 billion in unspent funds across about 2,500 projects.

To learn more about how these funding changes specifically affected researchers at Ohio State, watch this LTV Special Project video.

“There’s increasing distrust in academic institutions to keep research data safe, especially research that’s being conducted with minoritized and marginalized communities who are already vulnerable. Most of it comes down to ‘will someone from the federal government create a list of LGBTQ people, and will that be used to hurt us?”

Dr. Joanne Patterson