Four federal grants funding research at Dartmouth were canceled at the end of April and in early May, affecting students studying anthropology and health-related fields.
The National Institute of Health canceled two Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award F31 Individual Predoctoral Fellowships, which fund doctoral students from underrepresented groups studying health-related issues, according to the NIH’s website.
Molecular biology Ph.D. candidate Armina Frederick GR said the resultant termination of her grant for her doctoral study on the circadian regulation of fat cells was “heart-wrenching.”
“My science was great and had nothing to do with who I am, and also my voice was heard because of my unique experience,” Frederick said. “[The F31 grant] meant a lot. It meant representation.”
Federick said Guarini will cover the cost of the last few months of her Ph.D., including dissertation publishing costs.
The NIH also terminated a $2 million grant from the Initiative for Maximising Student Development program, which is intended to fund and provide mentorship for students at the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies.
IMSD at Dartmouth was intended to fund 56 Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies students over five years. Guarini plans to fully fund the first year of students — a cohort of eight — but the program will not recruit future classes.
According to biology professor Magdalena Bezanilla, who helped found IMSD at Dartmouth, the program’s goal was “to provide a smooth transition to graduate school for students who come from underrepresented backgrounds.”
“We still have a long way to go to have a diverse body of people working in sciences,” Bezanilla said.
The National Science Foundation canceled a grant from Increasing Diversity in Evolutionary Anthropological Sciences –– an American Association of Biological Anthropologists Committee of Diversity program that funds training and mentorship to address the underrepresentation of minority scholars.
According to College spokesperson Jana Barnello, no scholarships for graduate students have been rescinded. The College has appealed the four grant terminations.
“Unfortunately, the NSF would not accept the appeal of [IDEAS], and we have not yet received a response on the others,” Barnello wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth. “In the meantime, affected researchers are working with their deans and the Provost’s Office to identify sources of bridge funding.”
Ph.D. candidate Jesse Boggis GR also received an F31 grant for her dissertation about treatment for opioid use disorder. Boggis will be funded by an NIH T32 grant, which she used before receiving the F31 in her third year.
“I think we’re in a very lucky position here at Dartmouth,” Boggis said. “We’re very privileged to be able to have a lot of the institutional support to be able to keep students like myself afloat.”
Boggis added that although the termination “does not really impact [her] work moving forward,” it does “signify a difference in priorities and administration.”
In the F31 grant termination notice, the NIH said that it was not their “policy” to “prioritize research related to diversity, equity and inclusion” because this research is “used to support unlawful discrimination on the basis of race and other protected characteristics, which harms the health of Americans.”
“Research programs based primarily on artificial and non-scientific categories, including amorphous equity objectives, are antithetical to the scientific inquiry, do nothing to expand our knowledge of living systems, provide low returns on investment and ultimately do not enhance health, lengthen life or reduce illness,” the NIH notice reads.
Bezanilla said the NIH termination notice was “disturbing” to her because it claimed the IMSD program did not benefit human health.
“It is definitely benefiting the wellness of the students involved in this program,” Bezanilla said. “As a faculty involved in the program, I gained a lot from it as well.”
Iris WeaverBell ’28 is a news reporter. She is from Portland, Ore., and is majoring in economics and minoring in public policy.
