‘A slap in the face’: Research funding cuts loom large for UNLV, other Nevada institutions
UNLV professor Jason Flatt was finalizing his $1.4 million grant in February for research related to dementia and caregiving among LGBTQIA+ veterans. Despite having received the notice of award before President Donald Trump took office, the Department of Defense revoked it afterward.
Two weeks later, two ongoing grants from the National Institutes of Health were terminated months before their scheduled end dates in the summer.
For one study, the NIH told Flatt and his team: “Research programs based on gender identity are often unscientific, have little identifiable return on investment, and do nothing to enhance the health of many Americans,” according to the termination letter obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“You would think that we were researching unicorns or some imaginary creature that doesn’t exist,” said Erin Rook, a graduate assistant on the team.
A spokesperson from the NIH said grants were canceled in accordance with the presidential memo “Radical Transparency About Wasteful Spending.”
Flatt said his research is about more than just one population — many LGBTQ+ people live alone, for instance, and the research could apply to other older adults who live alone.
“There hasn’t really been a systematic effort to make sure that LGTBQ+ people have opportunities to participate in disease research,” Flatt said. “Part of what we were doing was giving other researchers an opportunity to have all types of people involved in their research studies, with the goal of finding a cure and making sure that it works for everybody.”
Nevada System of Higher Education institutions are “very dependent” on grants, according to Interim Chancellor Patty Charlton. The institutions receive $900 million in federal grants, and last year, $386 million in Pell Grants, which are federal financial aid awards, Charlton said at the Board of Regents meeting in March.
As of that meeting, UNLV had lost six grants for $4 million, according to UNLV Officer in Charge Christopher Heavey. The 15 percent cap on the NIH, upon which a federal judge placed an injunction, could have resulted in $50 million less for NSHE institutions.
Beyond the tangible impacts, and even as some decisions get blocked in court, university leaders say the uncertainty alone is enough to disrupt campuses.
“It’s a time of really unprecedented anxiety on campuses for both the faculty and the students, especially because of the changes that are coming down,” Heavey said. “Certainly we’re seeing it every day, those kind of concerns that are disrupting the campus environment because of the unpredictability of what may happen.”
‘Uncertainty is disruptive’
During her presentation to the regents, Charlton repeatedly called the situation “uncertain” and “fluid.” In addition to the fiscal impacts, she described the human toll. It’s not always clear why certain grants are rejected, and how long it will last.
“There’s the angst and the uncertainty from our students,” Charlton said.
Several NSHE leaders said that just the uncertainty alone was a disruption. Desert Research Insitute, which is entirely devoted to research, has lost some grants, according to President Kumud Acharya. But in addition to the physical loss, many researchers were scared of losing their jobs, he said.
In mid-March, a spokesperson for DRI said it is closely monitoring the situation.
“All our scientists are self-funded, meaning they rely on grant support to pay for their research as well as their own salaries. For this reason, any reductions to scientific funding will likely have an impact on our institution and the type of research we can conduct to support scientific discovery and human and environmental health,” a spokesperson wrote in an email.
Western Nevada College President Kyle Dalpe described losing an entire day during a time in which the college was focused on enrolling students and starting the semester, as well as communicating about changes. Even when policies were stopped in court, he said, they still disrupted the campus.
“Uncertainty is disruptive,” he said.
Regent Stephanie Goodman said that while there was a lot of anxiety, she was waiting to see exactly what would happen.
“I’m definitely empathetic to what individuals are dealing with. At the same time, and I said it in the meeting, we can’t continue building on a $36 trillion debt,” Goodman said.
End of DEI
University of Nevada, Reno and UNLV websites each have detailed pages dedicated to the many orders affecting research at the schools, which are both classified as R1, or “very high research.”
“Please review your active awards for any activities related to DEIA, as these have been the primary subjects of agency memos to date. We also recommend reviewing awards that might include activities associated with green energy, climate initiatives, foreign work, or reproductive rights,” UNLV’s website reads. DEIA stands for diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.
It also said the executive orders would mean “modifications of planned grant activities, with potential suspension of awards. Any change to existing awards will come directly from the funding agency. This may require a cease in activities or expenditures as directed by the funding agency.”
UNLV is also one of 45 universities the U.S. Department of Education is investigating for its ties to a nonprofit that helps students from underrepresented groups obtain doctoral degrees, the agency said on March 14.
Future research at stake
UNLV Professor Ben Leffel was going to lead a research proposal to help detect environmental threats to indigenous communities across the U.S., but grants from the National Science Foundation were frozen. In another proposal about companies’ carbon emissions, he had to remove the word “climate.”
His previous research looked at cities and corporations and their ability to fight climate change and was funded by the National Science Foundation.
Leffel said these cuts would mean that the country would not have as many advances as the rest of the world.
“It is positively the loss of American innovation,” Leffel said.
Flatt’s previous research had been encouraged by NIH, which he said formerly encouraged more research with the LGBTQ+ population.
For Rook, who is transgender and has a history of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in his family, the research is personal.
“It’s a slap in the face,” he said of the cuts. “It’s concerning, because it sets a tone for what’s to come.”
Flatt also worried about layoffs. The team has five graduate research assistants, one hourly graduate student worker and two full-time staff members. One person just came back from maternity leave.
Rook described himself as “being stubborn” and said he will continue toward a doctorate, but he also said he has questions about whether it’s a good decision if the primary funding source for research is not guaranteed.
While Leffel hasn’t had any layoffs for his team, he said the issue was an “opportunity cost” and that many problems would go unsolved.
“That will kill people,” Leffel said.
Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ktfutss on X and @katiefutterman.bsky.social.
