BY MINOLI PERERA
This piece was first published in The Daily Northwestern.
At the beginning of 2025, my lab and my science were flying high. We had recently been awarded a R01 grant by the National Institutes of Health to study genetic predictors of cardiovascular drug response in Puerto Ricans. I knew as a scientist that the incoming Trump administration would be problematic. But I never imagined what was coming.
In March, the NIH terminated my $750,000-per-year grant with a letter stating, “Research programs based primarily on artificial and non-scientific categories, including amorphous equity objectives, are antithetical to the scientific inquiry.”
Northwestern promptly appealed the decision, stating (accurately) that none of the work I did was nonscientific or amorphous. Importantly, the office of the general counsel pointed out that my work relied on a very real biological measure of ancestry—one that could be quantified from genomics analysis and served as an important variable in all US populations.
The answer came in June, with a letter from deputy director of the NIH, Dr. Matthew Memoli, stating that my work no longer aligned with NIH priorities. It was at this point that NU gave up and stated no more could be done.
Over the course of a few months, I went from a funded and successful scientist to one just hanging on, hoping to have her lab survive.
I inquired over and over to NU officials about further resources available to me, and the answer was always that others have filed lawsuits and have succeeded in restoring funding for terminated grants.
Hundreds of other researchers are waiting for final orders in related cases, still working their way through the courts. No specific resources were provided or guidance given. It was up to me to find someone to fight for money that would ultimately go to the university.
I watched as my NU colleagues were given opportunities for bridge funding for grants that scored well (though were not funded due to the funding freeze and government shutdown), while my grant, which had successfully competed for funding, was considered defunct.
The system for federal funding of science (aside from the illegal grant termination) is broken.
As reported by Nature, several advisory councils are fated to lose all their members by the end of this year, with replacements slow to come (if they come at all). Federal law requires that these councils review all grants slated for funding before award. This has resulted in very few new grants being awarded thus far in 2026 and a steep drop-off in the number of funded grants in 2025, per the NIH. The outcome is harmful for research, education, and the general public.
In the end, with the help of the American Association of University Professors and other NU faculty, I talked to endless law firms and recently found one that is ready to take action against this administration’s “war on science.” Any researcher looking for ways to restore terminated federal funding, at NU or elsewhere, should reach out to Ben Schott at Schott Law Firm at ben@bkschottlaw.com.
It is clear that the safeguarding of academic freedom and protection from viewpoint discrimination will be led by the scientists and teachers, and not university administrators.
Minoli Perera is an associate professor in pharmacology at the Feinberg School of Medicine and a member of the American Association of University Professors. She can be contacted at nu-aaup@proton.me. For more information about NU AAUP, visit nuaaup.github.io.
