Pitt loses $1.2 million in funding for LGBTQ+ research

The National Institutes of Health cut $1.2 million in federal funding, impacting several Pitt research labs focused on the LGBTQ+ community. 

The NIH cut funding to Pitt research with LGBTQ+ components near the beginning of March, leaving researchers and students concerned about the future of science and education. University spokesperson Jared Stonesifer said the extent of the NIH award and funding cancellations is unanticipated for the university.

“We are informed that these awards are judged to be topics that are no longer aligned with these new priorities,” Stonesifer said. “Pitt research administrators work with the faculty and the units where they are located to manage the administrative aspects to stopping the work, and ensuring there are appropriate follow-ups, for example, when there are human subjects in a clinical trial, who need to be notified of the termination and appropriately transitioned.”

Jennifer Silk, a professor of psychology, learned that her research project received a funding cut on March 10 for her lab’s study on the prevention of suicide in young adults. The study monitored mental health factors and outcomes in LGBTQ+ young adult populations, and funding was cut near the end of the study. 

“We were unable to obtain the final information that we needed,” Silk said. “We lost funding for faculty working on the project, as well as several graduate students and the research staff.”

Silk said it was personally “devastating” to her that the research is cut during critical times when rates of suicidality are drastically increasing, especially in LGBTQ+ and young adult populations. According to the Trevor Project, their survey found that 41% of LGBTQ+ young adults have seriously considered suicide during the year, and 14% made an attempt. 

“By cutting research that aims to prevent suicide in LGBTQ+ young people, it sort of sends a message to them that their lives don’t matter. That’s a bigger impact than losing the money,” Silk said. “It’s the message that the research doesn’t matter, I think that’s the most devastating aspect to me.”

An undergraduate researcher in the Coulter Lab who wished to remain anonymous said his lab’s funding was completely cut due to their study of components of LGBTQ+ health in their research. Their research worked on developing a video game program to educate youth on alcohol and substance use, as well as provide emotional support for young adults with different identities. 

“We’re still figuring out where to go from here at this time. We’re assuming that going forward we’re going to have no funding, which means everything will be volunteer work,” he said. “We have people that have been here for a few years. They’re going to have to completely change tracks on what they want to focus on in the future.”

Clarisse Lin, a Pitt alum who worked in the Coulter lab, said her time in the lab was instrumental in shaping her academic career.

“By terminating research grants like ours, it would make it so that future Pitt students may not be able to pursue their interests in proving the health of marginalized communities and instead have to ‘settle’ for something they are not as interested in or not do research at all,” Lin said.

“This can have negative impacts on future opportunities, such as applying for post-baccalaureate research opportunities and graduate school.”

The undergraduate researcher explained that their research allows those with high risk for substance abuse to have the tools and emotional support they need. 

“[The federal administration is] discouraging investigative healthcare for queer people, and I think that’s the huge insult in all of this,” he said.

He emphasized the value of such research for everyone, including LGBTQ+ populations.

“This is only the beginning of the [federal] administration, so it makes me worry what else they’re going to try and make us study because this is forcing our hand on what we’re allowed to do,” he said. “I don’t think they should have that power to decide how education discovers the truth about humanity and health.”