The NIH has begun cancelling grant-funded research for dozens of projects studying ways to overcome vaccine hesitancy, but other key vaccine research has been caught in the crossfire.
Sophia Newcomer, PhD, MPH, of the University of Montana School of Public and Community Health Sciences in Missoula, received an email on March 10 from NIH at her university's office of research with an attached letter saying her work "no longer effectuates agency priorities" and that the funding was being terminated that day.
"It is the policy of NIH not to prioritize research activities that focuses on gaining scientific knowledge on why individuals are hesitant to be vaccinated and/or explore ways to improve vaccine interest and commitment," the letter stated. "NIH is obligated to carefully steward grant awards to ensure taxpayer dollars are used in ways that benefit the American people and improve their quality of life. Your project does not satisfy these criteria."
For years, Newcomer's immunization services delivery research has focused on how to improve outcomes for rural families.
"A lot of the focus over the past few years has been on people who outright refuse vaccinations for their kids. But we know from research that that's a very small minority of kids who are undervaccinated in the U.S.," Newcomer told MedPage Today.
One of Newcomer's recent studies -- published in Pediatrics in 2023 -- found that the main reasons kids are missing vaccine doses or are late on vaccines are due to practical challenges to access. Rather than adverse parental attitudes towards vaccination, Newcomer and her team found that most kids fell behind on their vaccinations because of factors like not having ready access to vaccines and parents not knowing their kids were due for another dose.
More of Newcomer's research was published in Pediatrics in January, this time analyzing "large anonymized data sets of vaccination records to look for errors in vaccine administration," specifically looking for kids who were given doses too young or too soon after a previous dose of the same vaccine. She noted timing is important so that kids have an optimal immune response.
That study found that 15% of children in the U.S. had received a vaccine at the wrong time. Newcomer said one way to reduce vaccination errors like that is "to make sure all clinics have access to technology that helps doctors and nurses know when to recommend the right vaccine at the right time."
Newcomer said she was not expecting her funding to be gutted; she and her team have about 18 months of sub-projects and analyses of their existing work planned out.
"For the project that got cut, we were working to develop tools to measure the quality of vaccination services that children receive," she said. Her award was entitled, "Population-level assessment of early childhood vaccination timeliness, parental vaccine hesitancy, and immunization schedule adherence in the United States, including rural-urban disparities."
"There's a lot of really important research going on in the U.S. where we are trying to improve immunization services for families, and it seems like a large amount of that research got cut in the last week," Newcomer said.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has been one of many physician organizations vocal in its opposition to these sudden NIH funding cuts. In a joint statement with the American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and American College of Physicians, AAP urged NIH to reconsider its funding cuts and support research addressing vaccine hesitancy.
"The abrupt termination of these grants undermines efforts to combat misinformation and build public trust – work that is especially paramount right now as our country faces an active measles outbreak," they wrote. "The vast majority of parents decide to immunize their children, and we know our communities are healthier when everyone is immunized with both the appropriate childhood and adult vaccines."
"Cutting health research in rural states means cutting off new innovations that can improve health outcomes and quality of life," Newcomer said, adding that rural states like Montana already don't get a lot of funding for health research.
"I'm really proud to be doing this work, but we don't have a lot of reserves to rely on when it comes to furthering these efforts," Newcomer added, "so we're going to move forward the best we can."
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Rachael Robertson is a writer on the MedPage Today enterprise and investigative team, also covering OB/GYN news. Her print, data, and audio stories have appeared in Everyday Health, Gizmodo, the Bronx Times, and multiple podcasts. Follow