NIH grants plunge reported

National Institutes of Health grant awards dropped sharply in the first half of the fiscal year, with competitive grants through March 31 down 54% from a year earlier. (beckershospitalreview.com) The Washington Post reported that NIH had awarded 1,385 competitive grants in fiscal 2026 by March 31, down from 3,024 at the same point in fiscal 2025. Becker’s, citing that analysis, said the year-to-date total is the lowest in the trend it listed back to 2015. (beckershospitalreview.com) NIH is the federal government’s main funder of outside biomedical research, sending most of its budget to universities, hospitals, and research institutes through grants, contracts, and other awards. A Congressional Research Service report said nearly 82% of the agency’s budget supports that outside, or extramural, research. (congress.gov) That money pays for lab staff, equipment, patient enrollment, and training slots for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. The NIH Data Book says it tracks awards, applications, organizations, trainees, fellows, and the broader biomedical workforce because those grants support the research system itself. (report.nih.gov) The slowdown comes after a series of disruptions inside the grant pipeline. NIH said a 2025 shutdown forced it to cancel more than 370 peer-review meetings, affecting more than 24,000 applications, and later said advisory council meetings also had to be rescheduled. (grants.nih.gov, grants.nih.gov) Those reviews are not a formality. NIH says study sections conduct the first scientific review of applications, and institute advisory councils carry out the second level of review before awards can be made. (grants.nih.gov, grants.nih.gov) The drop has not hit every field equally. Becker’s summary of the Post analysis said awards tied to the National Institute of Mental Health fell from 965 to 546 between 2024 and 2025, while the National Cancer Institute fell from 2,326 to 1,971; it also said competitive grants mentioning women declined over the same period. (beckershospitalreview.com) At the same time, the administration has been terminating grants outright. KFF Health News reported that NIH terminated about 780 grants or parts of grants between Feb. 28 and March 28, 2025, including projects on vaccination, LGBTQ+ health, and diversity-related topics. (kffhealthnews.org) The budget backdrop is also tighter. The Congressional Research Service said NIH received $46.995 billion in fiscal 2025, about $357 million less than the 2024 level, while later administration budget plans sought much deeper reductions. (congress.gov, statnews.com) For labs waiting on decisions, fewer awards by March means fewer new projects starting on time and less certainty for hiring and training. The numbers through March 31 are still preliminary in NIH’s own system, but the agency says current-year award data are estimates until final budget actuals are released after the fiscal year ends. (report.nih.gov, reporter.nih.gov)