As the Trump administration slashes and transforms the National Institutes of Health (NIH), minority health researchers are walking a tightrope, trying to maintain funding without crossing the vague line into “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) projects.

Researchers told The Hill they are facing unclear research directives, increasingly competitive grant awards and politicized peer review processes as they battle to sustain their work improving health outcomes for minority populations.

“The rules are being changed all the time. The communication is not clear. Study sections [are] getting paused,” said Samira Asgari, a tenure-track assistant professor at the Institute for Genomic Health at Oakland School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “This brings just an environment of lack of stability

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