Press Release: 5/22/2026
Governor Healey Responds to Trump Administration’s Confirmation of Research Trials Halted by NIH Cuts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
5/21/2026
MEDIA CONTACT
Jacqueline Manning, Press Secretary
Phone
Call Jacqueline Manning, Press Secretary at (617) 725-4025
Online
Email Jacqueline Manning, Press Secretary at jacqui.manning@mass.gov
BOSTON — Governor Maura Healey today responded to confirmation from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that the Trump Administration’s cuts to National Institutes of Health (NIH) have halted hundreds of clinical trials and impacted tens of thousands of patients across the country.
The response follows a letter Governor Healey sent to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earlier this year documenting evidence that NIH funding cuts had stopped 383 clinical trials nationwide and impacted more than 74,000 patients, including 18 clinical trials and 13,000 patients in Massachusetts.
In a late April letter to Governor Healey from Principal Deputy Director of the NIH Matthew Memoli, HHS acknowledged that hundreds of trials had been impacted by funding cuts but that “only 28 clinical trials remain associated with terminated grants.” The administration did not provide evidence showing that 355 of the 383 remaining trials had resumed and did not identify which studies remained halted or explain what potentially lifesaving treatments or cures were not being studied because of their pause.
“It took the Trump Administration four months to send us a one-page response that confirms what we’ve known all along – President Trump’s cuts to NIH funding halted hundreds of clinical trials across the country, impacted tens of thousands of patients who were relying on them to find lifesaving cures and treatments, and cost American jobs,” said Governor Healey. “Now they are trying to claim that ‘only’ 28 trials are still impacted. We don’t believe that for a second. Secretary Kennedy needs to show us the evidence that supports his claims and a status update on the trials and patients in Massachusetts that were impacted by these cuts. He also needs to provide a full accounting of the impacts of even a temporary pause in any of these trials. How many researchers have walked away from potentially revolutionary trials or never started them at all because of the threat of funding cuts? How many have been recruited to foreign countries to make their discoveries elsewhere? How many families have waited in vain for a new cure or treatment that could help their loved ones? Secretary Kennedy shouldn’t hide behind his staff. The American people deserve answers directly from the person responsible for these devastating cuts.”
Governor Healey also raised concerns about the broader long-term consequences of instability in federal research funding, including the loss of scientific talent, delayed medical breakthroughs, and growing international competition for researchers and investment.
Massachusetts’ educational and medical institutions produce more than $155 billion in annual economic output, and support more than 858,000 jobs. One in every 10 research and development jobs in the nation are based in Massachusetts, and the state is home to approximately 160,000 jobs in the Life Sciences industry. Over 15 percent of drug candidates in the national pipeline are Massachusetts companies, and Massachusetts is one of the leading states in most patents per capita. As a result, Massachusetts is the birthplace of major breakthroughs in treatments for cancers and vaccines for polio, measles, and – most recently – COVID-19 under President Trump.
To combat the Trump administration’s attacks on scientific research, Governor Healey launched the Discovery, Research and Innovation for a Vibrant Economy (DRIVE) Initiative to continue Massachusetts’ leadership in developing life-saving cures, retain world class talent, preserve and create jobs, and support a key foundation of the state and the nation’s economy.