August 23, 2025 – National Institutes of Health (NIH) released the following:

NIH director Jay Bhattacharya said that among other priorities, the agency will focus on artificial intelligence and “ensuring evidence-based health care for children and teenagers identifying as transgender.”

SCIMaP co-founder and University of Pennsylvania researcher Alyssa Sinclair recently spoke with WUNC higher education reporter Brianna Atkinson about the potential impact of a 40% Trump-proposed cut to the NIH.

Adele Merritt is leaving NIH after only nine months and taking a job with the University of Maryland’s applied research lab.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) moved Friday to derecognize labor union representation for staffers at multiple subagencies and offices, claiming the action is “removing unnecessary obstacles to mission-critical work.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court decided that, at least temporarily, the National Institute of Health does not need to continue paying hundreds of millions in grants it stopped funding. But the court also left in place a lower court ruling that voided NIH memos that enforced the administration's policies.

The health agencies have not shied away from the issue or from animal rights groups. Among the first policies that the NIH and the Food and Drug Administration announced this spring was a move away from animal testing for research and drug development. According to public calendar disclosures, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary met with PETA in July.

Tasked with filling in the gaps in communication, Gray Delany, head of the "Make America Healthy Again" agenda at HHS, tapped virologist and former Trump adviser Steven Hatfill, MD, to gin up support for the secretary's actions through media spots.