Researchers who had millions of dollars in subsidies completed by the National Health Institutes (NIH) are demanding the Federal Government in the hope of stopping additional research cancellations.

The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday night against NIH and its director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, as well as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Among the plaintiffs are Dr. Brittany Charlton, an associated professor at the Harvard Thard Department of the Harvard Thool of Public Health, who said [effectuate] Agency priorities “according to the termination letters.

“Why am I up to?

Co-demandantes include the American Public Health Association; IBIS Reproductive health; and United Auto Workers, as well as three other researchers.

Both the NIH and the HHS told ABC News that they do not comment on ongoing litigation.

In recent weeks, active research subsidies related to studies involving LGBTQ+problems, gender identity and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) have been canceled in the NIH because they supposedly do not serve the “priorities” of the administration of President Donald Trump.

At the end of March, more than 900 subsidies have been completed, a NiH official with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be appointed, told ABC News.

The terminations occur after Trump approved a wave of executive orders that include promising “Defend women from the extremism of gender ideology“That has led to a new orientation, such as that of HHS, which now only recognizes two sexes.

The administration has also issued several executive orders with the objective of dismantling the initiatives ofi.

In previous termination letters, seen by ABC News, they affirm that “research programs based on gender identity are often not scientific, they have little return of identifiable investment and do nothing to improve the health of many Americans. Many of these studies ignore, instead of seriously examining biological realities. It is NIH’s policy not to prioritize these research programs.”

The demand alleges that the terminations of subsidies are an “reckless and illegal purge to eliminate NIH -funded research that addresses issues and populations that disadvantage.”

Charlton said he was alarmed by project 2025, a document of almost 1,000 pages of policies proposals presented by the Heritage Foundation during the 2024 campaign aimed at guiding the next conservative administration, which allegedly attacked fields such as Hers, focused on LGBTQ+health research, as “garbage science,” he said.

In the campaign, Trump tried to distance himself from the 2025 project, saying that he knew nothing about the proposals.

Five of Charlton’s subsidies were completed, including a five -year subsidy, of which Charlton said that she and her colleagues were in her fourth year, focused on documenting the obstetric results for lesbian, gay and bisexual women, she said.

Another subsidy focused on how to improve the experience of lesbian, homosexual and bisexual people trying to form their families, he said.

A third was investigation Seeking to understand how the laws identified by the team as discriminatory affect mental health among adolescents LGBTQ+ and potentially lead to depression and suicide, according to Charlton.

Charlton said that cancellations not only affect their ability to conduct research, but the ability to keep the LGBTQ Excellence Center of Excellence open, based in the Harvard Thard Public Health School, which is the founding director.

“My current NIH research contracts have a value of $ 15.9 million, of which $ 5.9 million must still be spent to finish our investigation,” Charlton said. “I essentially have no salary now, and it is possible that you need to close our newly launched LGBTQ Excellence Center of Excellence, which was a professional objective of mine that I finally met when we launched less than a year ago.”

She continued: “These terminations of subsidies can end my academic career, and have already been forced to make really difficult decisions such as the end of the staff, including the newly appointed executive director of the center.”

According to the lawsuit, Dr. Katie Edwards, a professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Michigan, has had at least six subsidies completed for a value of approximately $ 11.9 million, including one that studies sexual violence among men who fall under sexual minorities. You can no longer pay several of the approximately 50 personnel members financed through research subsidies, according to the demand.

Dr. Peter Lurie, president and CEO of the non -profit center for science in public interest, was a consultant and advisor paid in a subsidy that evaluates the impacts of free sale access to prophylaxis prior to exposure to reduce the transmission of HIV, according to demand. The concessionary institution, Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, received a NIH termination letter at the end of March, according to the demand.

Meanwhile, Dr. Nicole Maphis, a postdoctoral fellow at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of New Mexico, who studied the link between alcohol consumption disorder and Alzheimer’s disease, requested a mosaic subsidy, “destined to help diversify the profession,” according to demand. His proposal was withdrawn and his current financing ends in September 2025.

“Without additional funds, that the Mosaic award would have provided, she will lose her job,” says the demand.

Charlton said he has the hope that the lawsuit will be in a preliminary court order and, therefore, stops more NIH terminations.

“I think these contracts are binding agreements and are constitutionally based,” he said. “Less than 100 days have passed since the inauguration, and I am worried. Concerned about the signs of growing authoritarianism, and yet there is absolutely hope that executive orders cannot rewrite the laws, and I pray the courts ensure justice, chasing the truth, even through science, unites us, and it is the only way to guarantee a healthier future for all.”