WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Institutes of Health terminated federal funding in 2025 for Harvard University computational biologist Sean Eddy, informing him that his work had been determined to be of no value to U.S. taxpayers. The termination came under the Trump administration and affected a laboratory that employed more than a dozen people.

Over the year that followed, Eddy let go of nearly all of his lab staff. The computer screens were removed from the laboratory, leaving Eddy as the only person who remained there.

Eddy estimated that the loss of funding set him and his lab back by ten years. At age 60, he had planned to continue working through the next decade with his team. Harvard is on a hiring freeze.

Eddy said he has not communicated with his NIH program officer since the termination and believes the officer is under instructions not to speak with him. He has not received an explanation from the agency beyond the initial termination notice.

In early 2026, Republicans and Democrats worked through the appropriations process to restore portions of federal science funding that had been cut, frozen, or suspended. Advocacy groups say funds approved by Congress this year have been slow to reach researchers.

In 2026, NIH has issued fewer grants with larger amounts over longer periods, resulting in fewer scientists receiving funding. At one point earlier in 2026, the agency issued roughly 2,300 new grants, about half as many as at the same point in 2025.

Jeremy Berg, a former high-ranking NIH official who has become a watchdog for the organization, described a breakdown in the relationship between the agency and the research community. "Now that level of trust is pretty much gone," he said.

Berg said the reductions would have lasting consequences for American research. "There's a lot of pain and a lot of science that isn't gonna get done," he said.