What NIH Grant Terminations Mean for Pitt’s Alzheimer’s Research
Another round of federal funding cuts has landed close to home. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Aug. 6, 2026) reports that the NIH has unexpectedly ended two more research grants at the University of Pittsburgh, bringing the university’s total losses under the current administration to $40.74 million, or roughly 6% of the $669.7 million in NIH funding Pitt received in 2025 alone.
What was lost: The terminated grants belong to Ann D. Cohen, associate professor of psychiatry, and Tamara Dubowitz, chair of Pitt Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology. Cohen’s grant studied brain changes linked to living in lower-income neighborhoods; Dubowitz’s 16-year project examined how neighborhood assets shape cognitive health in the Hill District and Homewood. Together the two projects were worth over $21 million; the immediate loss is $5.04 million.
Who it affects: About 1,100 study participants, many African American, are caught in the fallout. Some will never learn their own Alzheimer’s risk, and Dubowitz’s team won’t finish analyzing how neighborhood conditions affect cognition. Cohen also lost funding for at least seven staff positions.
In their own words: Dubowitz called the cuts “an assault on our community and region and state from a science and economic perspective.” Cohen, an NIH grant recipient since 2001, said: “It’s very hard to look them in the eyes of trainees and say, ‘this is very different than it’s ever been.'”
The bigger picture: This is part of a broader pattern of research funding disruptions at Pitt and nationwide, often tied to the administration’s rejection of anything associated with diversity, equity, and inclusion. Every canceled grant is also a broken promise, to the participants who gave years of their time and trust, and to the communities these studies were designed to serve. As a program built on that same trust with the people and communities we study, we don’t get to treat this as someone else’s problem. It’s ours too.
