Trump administration cuts NIH grant, halting Black community Alzheimer's study
A 15-year Alzheimer’s research project in Pittsburgh’s Black neighborhoods was terminated after the NIH canceled its grant under the Trump administration.
The University of Pittsburgh’s Phresh study, a longitudinal investigation of food deserts, life-course adversity and Alzheimer’s risk in the Homewood and Hill District neighborhoods, was forced to shut down after the NIH withdrew its grant, a decision linked to the Trump administration’s review of DEI-related research. About 600 participants, many of whom had already completed two cognitive assessments, will not receive promised results, potentially delaying early detection of dementia. investigators, including Tamara Dubowitz and Andrea Rosso, say the cancellation undermines work that shows how discrimination and neighborhood disinvestment drive health disparities.
The NIH justified the termination by claiming the study’s self-reported metrics did not meet its scientific priorities. The University of Pittsburgh is filing an appeal and has become a plaintiff in a class-action suit with the ACLU, alleging unlawful censorship. Similar grant cancellations have affected other brain-health projects at Emory University and elsewhere.
Why it matters
Cutting the grant stalls vital research on how racism and poverty affect Alzheimer’s risk in underserved communities.
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