27 UNIHTED / NIH Vigils Newsletter 10/11/26

Written By Cara AB

Hi NIH Vigilers and 27 UNIHTED Community,

Please join us (NIH Vigils and 27 UNIHTED) this weekend on Saturday, October 17 from 10:00 am to noon outside the Medical Center Metro for a No Kings event advocating for health research, the NIH, scientific integrity, and voter protections!  We're looking forward to seeing you there! 

Vigil “Auntie” News 

If you find our newsletter helpful and think others would too, please forward it!  Anyone wishing to subscribe can sign up here. 

- The Good -

Boycott of the ADA is about accountability, censorship, and scientific freedom 

Controversy continues to roil the American Diabetes Association (ADA), a recent editorial explains, amid accusations that the professional organization has censored dissenting voices in its publications and dodged accountability over an incident at its annual meeting this summer.  The ADA’s troubles began when five senior researchers were ejected from its meeting because they handed out copies of an editorial critical of the Trump administration’s attempts to cut NIH funding.  The ADA has given varied reasons for why armed security temporarily forced respected researchers out of their own meeting, but the association has, according to critics, evaded members’ questions and failed to hold an unbiased investigation of the incident.  The ADA is now being boycotted by some of its own members, forcing one of its flagship journals to stop accepting submissions.

CREID funding has been restored (but its research will be subject to many new rules)

In 2025, funding was canceled for the Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases (CREID), an international network established by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to study new viral threats.  The good news is that according to an article in Science magazine, the budget compromise passed this year to avoid a government shutdown forced the Trump administration to restore CREID’s funding.  The bad news is that NIH has placed new rules on CREID’s activities, such as not allowing international virus-hunting activities, even though such searches are a central reason for CREID’s existence.  Also, cumbersome new restrictions on foreign collaborators will make CREID’s work more difficult, because almost all new viruses originate in foreign countries.

More Good News:

  • The Bethesda Declaration is in a book! The second edition of John Lister’s “WEALTH versus HEALTH: Trump’s Global War on Health and Science” mentions 27 UNIHTED and the Bethesda Declaration.  For a free copy, email info@27unihted.org. 

  • New initiative to develop cancer vaccines is being launched in December.  This will be a public-private partnership involving NIH and the Foundation for the NIH (FNIH), as well as pharma, biotech, and patient advocacy groups.  Individualized mRNA vaccines will be developed to attack a patient’s cancer, with promise for glioblastoma, pancreatic cancer, and other diseases.

  • Prioritized funding for early stage investigators resumes.  After a rough start, NIH finished the 2026 fiscal year by spending its entire extramural budget of $35.3 billion.  According to the NIH, it funded a larger number of early-stage investigators than in the last several years, although it is not clear success rates were better than in previous years.  Unfortunately, overall the total number of new grants and renewals was still down from the 2021–2024 average.  The NIH also plans to recruit 100 early career principal investigators for its intramural program, a good sign for the future.  

  • MAHA is splintering.  A new article in Politico describes disagreements between HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s team and the broader Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement.  Tony Lyons, a leading MAHA organizer, has been accused of selling out to business interests, aligning with tech companies like OpenAI and Anthropic and corporations like Walmart, and ignoring grassroots MAHA voters.  These voters are now being courted by Democratic candidates such as Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

- The Bad -

HIV research delayed, funding stalled

Four NIH-funded networks that test HIV, TB, and emerging vaccines and treatments are at risk, as the funding opportunities to renew them are still under review by HHS.  According to The New York Times, these research networks have been told by NIH to hold off on enrolling new participants in studies, perhaps a flag that these studies are slated to end next year.  Some of the studies have been active for 40 years and have a large established network of researchers, participants, longitudinal data, and data systems that enable them to tackle the most complex problems in the field.  Others were newer editions to the networks and were bringing fresh ideas and methods into the ecosystem.  

CDC to get rid of disability questions on national health survey 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) proposes removing 34 questions about disabilities from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) in 2028.  Apparently, the proposal was put forward without the normal consultation with experts and stakeholders.  The questions that would be removed go in depth about time of onset of mobility, cognition, and communication problems, as well as how these difficulties impact everyday functioning.  The survey answers are used in health research across many different agencies and sectors and provide data that informs funding decisions to provide support systems for people with disabilities.  A cursory survey will undercount people requiring services and experts warn removing these specific 34 questions will disproportionately remove data about people with developmental and cognitive disabilities.  A change in data collection also disrupts ongoing longitudinal studies that rely on these surveys. In addition, this proposed change would shift the format from in-person interviews to online or paper questions, which decreases accessibility and will lead to skewing the data because of ascertainment bias; those with trouble reading or writing, for instance, may not be well represented in survey results.  Comments open until October 20.

Florida ignores the science in attempts to eliminate vaccine mandates

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) under Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo is proposing removing requirements for school children to receive four vaccines: haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), hepatitis B, varicella (chickenpox), and pneumococcal conjugate.  Florida law stipulates requirements for other childhood vaccines so the DOH does not have jurisdiction over those.  Ladapo said on Thursday that his state’s attempt to eliminate mandates for these vaccines “has nothing to do with science or the efficacy of the vaccines.  It is about putting parents in charge of their children’s healthcare.”  Others suggest that the Department of Health should be about science, efficacy, and the health needs of the public. 

More Bad News:

- The Ugly -

RFK Jr. establishes new vaccine injury center at NIH

During a visit to NIH last week, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., unveiled his new vaccine injury research center.  HHS hasn’t disclosed the clinic’s budget, enrollment rules, or protocols, so it is not clear exactly what the center will accomplish. However, RFK Jr. has a long history of taking actions that align with debunked theories that vaccines are not safe, including the bogus claim that vaccines cause autism.  Kennedy says that the new center will help restore trust in health care institutions.  But vaccine scientist Peter Hotez views the new center as an attempt to sow doubt about vaccines.  Vaccine scientist Paul Offit says that now RFK Jr. will be “in a position to be able to create the kinds of studies that fit [his anti-vax] bias.”  Staff of the Vaccine Integrity Project note that “scientific findings no longer deserve credibility simply because they come from the federal government. Credibility must be earned through rigorous methods, transparency, and independent scrutiny.” The new vaccine injury clinic opened Monday on the NIH campus, and in conjunction HHS plans to reimburse doctors who report suspected vaccine injuries to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, increasing the likelihood of overreporting. HHS hasn’t disclosed the clinic’s budget, enrollment rules, or protocols.

Revival of Danish Hep B study that raised ethical concerns

A Danish study of the hepatitis B vaccine for infants, which was widely viewed as unethical and put on hold last December, is moving forward again.  The study, to take place in the west African country of Guinea-Bissau, is funded in part by $1.6 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The ethical concerns arise from withholding the birth dose of the existing vaccine from half the enrolled babies, resulting in 7,000 infants who would intentionally not receive standard of care.  Vaccine scientist Paul Offit has referred to this planned clinical trial as “RFK Jr.’s Tuskegee Experiment,” comparing it to the infamous experiment in which life-saving antibiotics were withheld from African Americans in Alabama.

More Ugly News:

  • Texas Attorney General Paxton targets pediatricians for vaccinating kids.  Ken Paxton, a Senate candidate, alleges a profit-driven vaccine conspiracy and has also opened an investigation into the American Academy of Pediatrics.  One small-practice pediatrician has spent nearly $15,000 in legal fees responding to his demands.

  • New $100,000 fee for international students.  The Trump administration is proposing exorbitant fees for international students who want to do optional practical training (OPT) after graduation.  Michael Clemens, an economist at the Johns Hopkins School of Government & Policy in Washington, DC, says the proposal “will obliterate the pipeline” of scientific talent coming to the U.S.”

Calls to Action

  • By October 19: FDA's risk assessment, premarket testing, and postmarket monitoring for generative-AI medical devices (docket FDA-2026-N-7874).  Leave a comment and don’t let the industry write their own rule!

  • By October 19: Leave a comment on NIH's sweeping new biosafety policy draft, which would replace the NIH Guidelines with one policy covering all biohazards that are applicable to any institution receiving NIH funds. 

  • By October 20: Leave a comment on the proposed removal of disability questions from the NHIS. 

  • By November 3: Proposed rule on Racial Nondiscrimination in Private Schools [2026-18127 (91 FR 56811)] allows removal of tax exempt status from any private schools that continue to support DEI activities. 

  • By November 16: Tell OPM not to shrink your health plan choices (docket OPM-2026-0661) by opposing the proposal to "optimize" FEHB offerings for the 8.3 million federal employees, retirees, and family members who rely on it.

  • Impeach Vought campaign has over 4,150 signatures! Add your name to the movement! www.impeachvought.com/

  • Support 27 UNIHTED. Former NIHers and HHS staff need your support. Take action and volunteer: https://www.27unihted.org/takeaction

Upcoming Events

27 UNIHTED / NIH community events

  • AllStrike will be playing at a Get Out the Vote fundraiser on Thursday, October 15 at 8:00 pm - Simple Underground Stage DC, 5420 3rd St NW. 

  • 27 UNIHTED/SBM Webinar Wednesday October 21st: 27 UNIHTED is joining together for a webinar with Society for Behavioral Medicine (SBM) on October 21st from 1-2; this is free for SBM members, $45 for non-SBM members. Register today.

Wellness Weekly

Our somewhat serious community recommendations for self-care are:

  • Take some of that PTO you've been saving, for whatever you need it for

  • Watch a romcom 

  • Run a marathon

  • Read a book

In solidarity,

27 UNIHTED and NIH Vigils

Cara AB
Next

27 UNIHTED / NIH Vigils Newsletter 10/4/26