Overview
- A group of 17 researchers backed by the ACLU filed a proposed class-action complaint in federal court alleging the NIH screens grants with a 235-keyword list to flag and cut funding.
- The lawsuit names NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and an entity listed as DOGE as defendants and seeks orders to vacate the screening policies and restore terminated awards.
- Plaintiffs say the list includes words like “gender,” “Latinx” and “climate change” and that flagged grants face termination, denial or forced renegotiation even after they passed scientific peer review.
- The complaint describes program officers pressing researchers to remove or reword terms such as “transgender,” “health disparities” and “pregnant people,” and says the practice has chilled applications and research agendas.
- The case arrives against a backdrop of conflicting court rulings on NIH DEI‑related cuts and a pending request for Supreme Court review, and a class ruling could extend remedies to many affected researchers.