Harvard weighs killing research animals due to Trump funding freeze

A professor at the Harvard School of Public Health said that medical research animals may have to be euthanized following the Trump administration's decision to slash $2.2 billion in federal funding for the university. This after Harvard refused to comply with the administration's policy demands, including eliminating DEI initiatives and cracking down on anti-Semitism. The Ivy League school has a $53 billion endowment.

Sarah Fortune, a professor who has been conducting tuberculosis research by testing vaccines on primates, reported that she received a stop-work order on a $60 million contract this week. The contract involved a dozen labs at institutions throughout the country, per CNN.

Fortune has since started weighing options, some of which could be life or death for animals. "The question is, could we find resources to support them, such that we don't have to euthanize them?" she questioned. Although it is possible that researchers will secure sufficient external funding to save the animals, Fortune said that there is no alternative funding source that could sustain the entire research program.

While Fortune and her associates attempt to mitigate the situation, the cuts do not solely impact Harvard University. According to CNN, Fortune predicts that over 80 percent of funds for the tuberculosis contract are allocated to other laboratories and institutions, such as the University of Pittsburgh, Case Western Reserve University, the University of Washington, UMass, and MIT.

On Monday, the Trump administration paused $2.2 billion in federal funding for Harvard after a the university refused to comply with specific demands set forth by the Department of Education (DOE). Harvard has been ordered to reform programs with egregious records of antisemitism or other bias, discontinue DEI programs and initiatives, reform student discipline and accountability, institute governance and leadership reforms, and institute merit-based hiring. The university failed to implement the directives, which resulted in funding being pulled.