Black Americans face higher Alzheimer’s risk. Now, NIH funding for research into why is being cut

The Trump administration’s rollback of DEI-related research is now affecting studies examining Black communities higher risk for Alzheimer’s.

Black communities in America are two times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than their white counterparts. And researchers predict that 40% of those living with Alzheimer’s disease, which impacts roughly 7 million people annually in the U.S., will be Black and Latino by 2030. Yet the NIH is cutting funding for some studies aimed at understanding the root causes of these disparities. 

Recently, Emory University and the University of Pittsburgh received notification that the National Institutes of Health has cancelled $15 million in grants between both institutions. The grant cuts specifically impacted studies exploring why Black communities are at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s by exploring the long-term impact of discrimination on brain health. 

As reported by the Guardian, NIH director, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, informed university researchers of these cuts in letters that said their projects “no longer effectuate NIH’s priorities” and that “the lack of concrete, objective and measurable variables is not in alignment with NIH’s priorities.” 

“Those things we’re measuring are scientifically valid concepts,” said University of Pittsburgh associate professor of epidemiology Andrea Rosso, who co-led a grant canceled by the administration, told the outlet. “Whoever was doing this saw the words they didn’t like in our grant. We don’t actually measure structural racism. We use that as a framing for why one population is at such high risk.” 

Today, over 7 million people in the US are living with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, brain disorders that slowly destroy memory, thinking skills, and interfere with one’s ability to do daily tasks. Though the disorder largely impacts older communities, scientists say it’s not a part of the aging process. 

“We have to begin to speak about it more,” Deanna Darlington previously told theGrio. “We have to talk about it with our healthcare practitioners earlier, and not wait until there’s a diagnosis or memory issues that we’re noticing. 

“We really don’t talk about the impact to Black and brown communities when we talk about Alzheimer’s,” she added. 

However, over the years, researchers have worked to understand the disease and the communities it heavily impacts. For instance, Rosso’s study at the University of Pittsburgh explored how racial discrimination can be linked to higher risks of an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, and particularly how the brain disorder affects people who live in divested, predominantly Black neighborhoods in this country. Similarly, Ann Cohen, an associate professor of psychiatry whose grant was also canceled at the university, was studying sociologically driven risk factors for Alzheimer’s to determine whether these aspects, often perceived as individual issues, are actually beyond the patients’ control. At Emory University, the NIH cut the grant funding on a study exploring the impacts of racial discrimination on the white matter of the brain, a deep brain tissue made of nerve fibers that is typically observed in dementia patients. 

These cuts are only the latest in the Trump administration’s anti-DEI push across industries. By March 2025, a number of active research grants related to LGBTQ+ issues, gender identity, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) had been terminated by the NIH because they did not align with the current administration’s priorities. And though a federal judge previously deemed the cuts to be unlawful ‘racial discrimination’ and ordered that grants be reinstated, in August 2025, the Supreme Court ruled in a vote 5-4 in favor of the termination of $783 million in grants linked to DEI initiatives. In addition to research grants, the Trump administration has used the president’s anti-DEI executive orders to roll back equity programs and offices intended to help close racial disparities in business procurement, education, housing, health care, and environmental harms. 

And while government entities are trying to create roadblocks in these efforts, advocates like Darlington, who founded AlzInColor, are committed to keeping communities informed about their brain health. 

“The numbers show that we’re impacted by this,” she told theGrio. “But we need to also know how we can get the resources that we need… ultimately, we’re advocating for ourselves about this, about policies that can support us as people of color living with this disease.”