NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) — Newborn care. Reducing maternal mortality. Treatments for long Covid.
These are among the slew of research initiatives at Columbia University that lost funding and stopped work after the Trump administration pulled $400 million from the New York school, according to a university official.
The Department of Health and Human Services was among several federal agencies that in March canceled more than 300 grants and contracts to researchers at the Ivy League school as a result of its “continued inaction” in the face of a surge in complaints of antisemitism from Jewish students following the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel and the ensuing war.
The scope of affected programs for children is broad. They include a critical site for a network of pediatric cardiac centers focused on improving care for children and adults with congenital heart disease, a study comparing the effects of different types of care for newborns with opioid withdrawal, a study of anesthesia medications on the brain development of pre-term babies, and a training program for research on preventing and treating childhood obesity and diabetes.
The cuts also impact the development of novel treatments like an antiviral nasal spray for infectious diseases and therapies for chronic illnesses like long Covid-19. A clinical trial focused on reducing maternal mortality was also cut, as was an effort to improve immune tolerance in organ transplantation.
Universities receive billions of dollars in research funding, and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits recipients of federal funds from discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin. The Education Department received a number of civil rights complaints about Columbia, prompting investigations, and a probe by a US congressional committee found the school stood out for “its egregious failure” to fight antisemitism.
The White House has since broadened its attack to other elite schools including Harvard, Northwestern, Cornell and Princeton, and widened the scope of criticisms to include diversity, equity and inclusion efforts as well as left-leaning ideological bias. Officials say Harvard should fund its programs through its $53 billion endowment or donations rather than taxpayers.
The clash has spurred allegations that the government is impinging on academic independence. Two educational unions in March sued the Trump administration over the cuts to Columbia, saying they’re illegal attacks on free speech. Harvard also sued the government over its more than $2 billion in frozen funding.
Columbia said Tuesday that it will eliminate 180 staffers whose research was impacted by the cuts, which represents about 20% of employees whose salaries or stipends were at least in part funded by now-terminated grants. The school said the financial strain of continuing to fund the individuals had become “intense.”
Columbia, which has a $15 billion endowment, will contribute funds to support graduate students and fellows who were depending on the grants, and said that it established a fund to support researchers should there be additional funding cuts. Scientists can apply for internal grants as they seek alternate sources of funding, the school said.
The school has been in talks with the Trump administration in an effort to restore the funding and, in March, agreed to a set of demands that included expanding the authority of campus police, imposing stricter regulations on mask-wearing, and appointing a senior vice provost to oversee the Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies department. The talks are ongoing.
--With assistance from Bob Van Voris.
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