Four federally funded networks that test vaccines and treatments for HIV, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases have been told to hold off on launching some new studies. On Oct. 2, the National Institutes of Health told HIV researchers to temporarily pause new studies that had not yet enrolled participants and would not be complete by Nov. 30, 2027, when the networks' current funding expires, according to The New York Times report on the renewal delays.
The networks' next funding cycle depends on renewal notices that have not been released. The government had said the notices would be posted by late August, but they had not appeared as of Oct. 7, the Times reported. A federal official said the notices were under review at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Scientists told the newspaper they worry the delays could end the networks, at least in their current form, according to a KFF Health News summary of the report.
