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The impact of NIH restrictions on foreign institutions

March 27, 2026
March 27, 2026
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Morning Rounds Writer and Reporter

Good morning. We're down to the final four in our annual STAT Madness competition. In one matchup, research on a biomarker for Alzheimer's has a solid lead over an AI cell modeling project. In the other, a smart floss that tracks hormones trails a study on the connection between triglycerides and aneurysms. Vote today, vote tomorrow!

one big number

1 in 4

A researcher looks into a microscope. On a computer screen in front of him, red little worm-like squiggles wriggle around.

Taylor Glascock for STAT

That's how many U.S. scientists have been impacted by the Trump administration's restrictions on research partnerships with foreign institutions, according to a new special report from a few of my STAT colleagues. The NIH announced ten months ago that it would no longer allow researchers to share federal grants with partners abroad. A STAT survey found that a quarter of respondents had been impacted a fair amount or a great deal by the move. Another 20% said they'd been affected a little.

NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya has said that reducing administrative overhead and streamlining the grant application process are some of his top priorities. But researchers on the ground say that hasn't happened here. "It's looking like it will end up being a huge amount of extra work for a worse scientific presentation that will be harder to evaluate," a malaria researcher said about the NIH's new system for foreign subawards. Read more about how the change is affecting science around the world.

health

AMA clarifies gender-affirming surgery comment (sort of)

Remember last month when Daniel Payne and I wrote about the American Society of Plastic Surgeons' new position statement about gender-affirming surgery for young people? The professional group generally recommended that procedures like top surgery be delayed until age 19. Soon after, a comment to reporters from the American Medical Association began circulating, which said that "in the absence of clear evidence, the AMA agrees with ASPS that surgical interventions in minors should be generally deferred to adulthood."

But an AMA Board newsletter sent yesterday asserted that "while some media coverage characterized [the comment] as agreement with the ASPS statement, that phrasing did not come from the AMA." I asked the AMA if it's alleging that media outlets fabricated or otherwise messed up part of the comment, but the group did not respond to that specific inquiry. The AMA has requested a correction from The New York Times in particular, per the newsletter, and asserted there's been no policy change and the comment was not an endorsement of the ASPS position. I wrote about this confusion back in February but didn't receive a response from the AMA at the time.

Overall, the Board newsletter reiterated the AMA's support for gender-affirming care, saying the intent of the comment was "to preserve — not diminish — access."

training

Medical school accreditor drops requirement to teach about health equity

The leading medical accreditation body in the U.S. has removed language requiring schools to teach aspiring doctors about health inequities, STAT's Anil Oza reports. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education releases its standards for accreditation each academic year, and the latest version of the document has been changed to encourage schools to teach "skills of self-directed learning, including the ability to self-identify critical gaps in knowledge," removing language about health care disparities and health inequities.

It's unclear why LCME made these changes, but the body has faced political pressure under the Trump administration. And just yesterday, the DOJ announced investigations into three medical schools, asking for admissions data. Read more from Anil about what it all means. The LCME didn't answer questions, but the psychiatrist who coined the term "structural competency" did.

(In other news on the med school beat, three nutrition experts wrote a First Opinion essay about how future doctors do need more nutrition education — just "not of the MAHA variety." Read more.) 

video

How much has social media hurt your mental health?

Video thumbnail, with text that reads: "Social media's impact on mental health."

Alex Hogan/STAT 

A jury in Los Angeles recently awarded a 20-year-old woman $3 million after finding social media giants Google and Meta liable for her mental health struggles. In this week's STATus Report video, Alex Hogan talks with health and science influencers about how social media can affect wellbeing, and how that shapes their habits.

"The algorithms are designed for clicks and eyeballs," said Jessica Malaty Rivera. "And the content that performs well is the content that elicits those big, strong emotional reactions." Too often, those emotions are anger and agitation. Watch the video to learn what it's like to fight misinformation and the algorithm at the same time.  

shifts

A new strategic plan for disability research

The National Institutes of Health has released a five-year plan for disability research in the United States. The document, published yesterday, highlights a broader federal shift away from the medical model of disability, seeking to "cure" people or make them "normal," instead focusing on how environmental and social barriers can impact a person's disability.

If you think this won't apply to you or a loved one, I encourage you to reconsider. More than a quarter of Americans have a disability, and the NIH invested more than $619 million in disability health research in 2024. That's serious money! Read the report for yourself. — O. Rose Broderick

politics

How rampant is home care fraud, actually?

Let's round out the week with more news from Rose: The Trump administration has made it clear through executive orders, public statements, and social media posts that it's targeting health care fraud, especially in Medicaid. The administration's portrayal of home care as rife with fraud comes at a time when those services are more expensive and more critical for the country's health care system.

Experts told Rose that the truth is more complicated than a fraud free-for-all. "This is being painted with a really broad brush," said Alison Barkoff, the former head of the Administration for Community Living. Read more on what the data actually show.

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