WASHINGTON (September 20, 2026) – Erika Sward, Executive Director of United for Cures, a collaborative network of patient advocacy organizations, released the following statement in response to the proposal to give political appointees greater authority to terminate National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants based on concerns unrelated to the scientific merit of the research:

“This plan will pull the plug on clinical trials that families are depending on right now, delay breakthroughs that are within reach, and hand America’s biotech edge to our global competitors.

“Giving political appointees the power to cancel NIH medical research grants based on their opinion of a university — regardless of the lives that university is working to save — should alarm every American, especially the millions of patients counting on treatments and cures that haven’t been discovered yet.

“Medical research for patients isn’t a partisan issue — and it never should be. We call on Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, to reject this proposal outright.”