Health

Accessibility Is Taking a Hit Across the Sciences

Published

1 year ago

February 22, 2025

Accessibility Is Taking a Hit Across the Sciences

Tyler Nelson, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Florida, studies the neurobiology of pain, a choice partly motivated by his own frustrations with a neuromuscular disability. Last October, he applied for a grant at the National Institutes of Health that, if awarded, would support his dream of someday running his own lab.

But, earlier in February, he learned that his application, which took six months to pull together, was about to be thrown out.

The reason: Dr. Nelson had applied for a version of the award that supports researchers who are historically underrepresented in science, including people with disabilities. That funding avenue now violates President Trump’s executive order banning federal agencies from activities related to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, or D.E.I.A.

Dr. Nelson was tipped off by an N.I.H. affiliate, but he has received no official notice about the situation. “I’ve tried to call probably 150 times,” he said. Unofficially, he learned that the agency was planning to pull his submission altogether rather than move it to the general award pool for consideration. This has happened with at least one other type of award offered by the agency, which did not respond to a request for comment.

Thanks to the tip, Dr. Nelson was able to withdraw his application and resubmit it to the general award pool before its deadline — but he is unsure if others were so lucky.

“What this does is discriminate against people who are underrepresented,” said an N.I.H. reviewer who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. The reviewer added that the evaluation criteria for the general and diversity award pools were the same, with no priority given to either pool. “I can’t stress enough,” the reviewer said, that an undeserving grant “is not going to get funded, whether it’s ‘diversity’ or not.”

According to Eve Hill, a civil rights lawyer in Washington, D.C., this may violate certain legal protections for people with disabilities, although there is no precedent in court.

“They’ve provided this category to overcome past discrimination,” she said. “By not then considering them in the general award, they are exacerbating that discrimination.”

The predicament is one of many ways that accessibility across the sciences is taking a hit from the D.E.I.A. shutdown. Federal agencies, once proponents for increasing opportunities for scientists with disabilities, are now ceasing programs geared toward that goal. Left uncertain is how funding for disability research — from designing accessible health services to building better prosthetics — will be affected by the order.

People with disabilities make up more than a quarter of the nation’s population and are considered to be the world’s largest minority. But experts say that, until recently, disability has largely been neglected in discussions about marginalized groups.

“Accessibility was always seen as an afterthought,” said Kim Knackstedt, a disability policy consultant in Washington, D.C. “Whether intentional or not, disability has been excluded from a lot of D.E.I. efforts.”

That extends to the sciences. The National Science Foundation reported that, in 2021, people with disabilities made up only 3 percent of the STEM work force. Only in 2023 did the N.I.H. designate people with disabilities as a community that experienced health disparities.

As the first director of disability policy in the Biden administration, Dr. Knackstedt led a push for accessibility to be at the forefront of diversity, equity and inclusion policy. One outcome of this effort was an executive order issued by President Biden that explicitly named accessibility as an area to strengthen in the federal work force.

“That was a win for many of us,” said Bonnielin Swenor, an epidemiologist who founded the Disability Health Research Center at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Swenor, who experienced barriers pursuing a research career because of a visual impairment, added that it was disheartening “to have that progress not just stopped, but rolled back.”

Federal science agencies scrambled to comply with the reversal, leaving scientists and disability advocates apprehensive about the future of accessibility research. Earlier this month, the National Science Foundation began flagging grants that contained buzzwords commonly associated with D.E.I.A., including “disability” and “barrier.”

An N.S.F. program director, who asked not to be named out of fear of retaliation, said that there were “quite a few awards flagged for the word ‘disability,’” including projects to make driving and computing more accessible. The program director added that staff members were unsure if these research activities were banned by the executive order.

A spokesman for the N.S.F. did not answer questions sent by The New York Times regarding the eligibility of such awards.

Robert Gregg, an engineer at the University of Michigan who designs wearable robots for people with mobility impairments, said he had received notification from the N.S.F. to halt D.E.I.A. activities. But he interpreted that to mean supplemental programs aimed at increasing participation of underrepresented groups in science.

“Fundamental research in technology, like robotics and A.I. — my understanding is that that is still perfectly valid and can continue,” he said. But Dr. Gregg also runs clinical trials funded by the N.I.H., and he recently learned that the renewal process for this funding had effectively been frozen again.

Scientists with disabilities are also worried about what the clampdown on accessibility will mean for both their own careers and those of the next generation.

“Disabled people were barely being included,” said Alyssa Paparella, a graduate student at the Baylor College of Medicine who founded an online movement called #DisabledInSTEM. “Now there’s a huge fear of what’s going to be the future of all of us.”

A notice on the N.I.H. website encouraging participation of people with disabilities in the research enterprise has been removed, as has an N.S.F. webpage that listed funding opportunities for scientists with disabilities. Last month, the N.S.F. also indefinitely postponed an engineering workshop to better include people with autism and other neurocognitive differences in the work force.

In the geosciences, many degree programs require students to complete weekslong outdoor field camps that can be difficult to navigate with certain disabilities. This led Anita Marshall, a lecturer at the University of Florida, to found GeoSPACE, an N.S.F.-funded camp that incorporates modern technology and can be completed virtually.

She did not know if GeoSPACE would be able to continue. “This has really knocked me off my feet,” said Dr. Marshall, who described the project as her pride and joy. “I’m not sure what’s next.”

Doubts have sprung up for Dr. Nelson, too. Although he managed to salvage his application for N.I.H. funding, the change has pushed back any clarity about his future in research by at least five months.

“It’s a really dismal time in science for trainees,” he said. “I look at the last 15 years, like, ‘Why did I work this underpaid, high-stress job?’ Do I want to do this forever?”

Click to comment

Health

Wellness expert reveals surprising health benefits of daily cold exposure: ‘Huge difference’

Published

11 hours ago

March 21, 2026

Press Room

Wellness expert reveals surprising health benefits of daily cold exposure: ‘Huge difference’

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Interview of the week

Wim Hof breaks down his three-pillar method for more energy, less stress

Rises and falls

→ Cigarette smoking plummets to historic single-digit low in U.S.

→ Male fertility rates decline as experts reveal health threats

→ Surges in adult ADHD stimulant prescriptions have doctors concerned

Conversation starters

→ Canadian patients left waiting 15+ hours in emergency room

→ The real reason for sagging jowls, and what will and won’t help

→ Study reveals surprising results after stopping GLP-1 weight-loss drugs

CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES

This article was written by Fox News staff.

Health

Needle-free diabetes management could be on the horizon, study suggests

Published

23 hours ago

March 20, 2026

Press Room

Needle-free diabetes management could be on the horizon, study suggests

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Oral insulin could one day replace injections for people with diabetes, new scientific discoveries suggest.

Researchers from Kumamoto University in Japan have announced the development of an insulin pill to help lower blood sugar.

For diabetics, insulin is typically administered via injection, but the pill would offer a non-invasive treatment option.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES

“Insulin injections remain a daily burden for many patients,” said associate professor Shingo Ito, a researcher in the study’s press release. “Our peptide-based platform offers a new route to deliver insulin orally, and may be applicable to long-acting insulin formulations and other injectable biologics.”

Oral insulin could one day replace injections for people with diabetes, new scientific discoveries suggest. (iStock)

The study, published in the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics, tested the delivery of oral insulin by building a carrier peptide called DNP-V. This peptide helps to transport insulin through the small intestine, where protein drug absorption is usually poor.

In diabetic mice models, the researchers administered the peptide by mouth with zinc-stabilized insulin, which was formulated with zinc ions to make it more stable, according to the study.

“Insulin injections remain a daily burden for many patients.”

Advertisement

The result was a rapid and significant drop in blood glucose, as well as a sustained (longer-term) decrease. The mice’s blood sugar was reduced to near-normal levels.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

When DNP-V was attached directly to insulin, the results showed enhanced absorption in the intestines and a similar glucose-lowering effect, the researchers noted.

The treatment was effective in different diabetes models, significantly reducing blood sugar spikes after meals with just one dose per day.

The study was done in mice, which leaves uncertainty if the treatment will translate to humans. (iStock)

The findings suggest that DNP peptides could serve as flexible, adaptable platforms for delivering large-molecule drugs by mouth, the authors concluded in the study abstract.

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

“This technology can simply and effectively convert injectable biopharmaceuticals into orally administrable forms, offering a promising path to practical, patient-friendly oral therapies,” they wrote.

Although the researchers are optimistic about the findings translating to larger therapeutic models, they noted that the results in mice do not guarantee the same outcome in humans, and that more research is needed.

For diabetics, insulin is typically administered via injection to regulate blood sugar levels. (iStock)

Dr. Marc Siegel commented on this development, noting that oral insulin could make a big difference in healthcare.

“Insulin use, especially in type 1 diabetes, is sometimes difficult to regulate by injection,” Siegel, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital. “Oral use would have major advantages.”

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER

He added, “This is very promising provided that it works in humans, which is a big ‘if.’”

Fox News Digital reached out to the study authors for comment.

Angelica Stabile is a lifestyle reporter for Fox News Digital.

Health

Deadly meningitis outbreak prompts college students to call for campus shutdown

Published

1 day ago

March 20, 2026

Press Room

Deadly meningitis outbreak prompts college students to call for campus shutdown

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Students at the University of Kent in the U.K. are calling for a shutdown in light of an active meningitis outbreak.

The demands follow multiple alerts from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) about the outbreak.

As of March 18, the agency had announced a total of 15 confirmed cases of meningococcal disease, 12 additional potential cases and two deaths in Kent, a county in the southeast of England. The University of Kent is located in Canterbury, a historic city within Kent.

MEASLES OUTBREAK POSES RISK OF ‘IRREVERSIBLE’ BRAIN DAMAGE, HEALTH OFFICIALS WARN

Meningococcal disease is a serious bacterial infection caused by Neisseria meningitidis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It can cause two life-threatening conditions: meningitis (infection of the brain and spinal cord lining) and a bloodstream infection called septicemia, which can lead to sepsis, per the above source.

Two people have died amid an outbreak of meningitis at the University of Kent in Canterbury. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

Even with prompt treatment, meningococcal disease can become fatal within hours. Health agencies report a typical fatality rate of about 10% to 15%.

In response to the outbreak, students at the University of Kent launched an online petition calling for campus to be closed.

MEASLES OUTBREAK REACHES A MAJOR SOUTH CAROLINA COLLEGE CAMPUS

“Students at the University of Kent are increasingly concerned about reports of meningitis and sepsis cases affecting members of the campus community,” the petition states, as posted on Change.org. “The confirmation of two deaths, along with reports of hospitalizations, has caused understandable concern among students and staff.”

The petition expressed concern that in-person exams, lectures and other campus activities are continuing amid the outbreak.

As of March 18, health officials had announced a total of 15 confirmed cases of meningococcal disease, 12 additional potential cases and two deaths in Kent, a county in the southeast of England. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

“Many students feel that they are being placed in a difficult position: attend exams and in-person activities during a period of heightened concern or prioritize their health and well-being while risking potential academic consequences,” the petition states. “Students should not feel forced to choose between protecting their well-being and continuing their education.”

“Students deserve to feel safe on campus,” the petition concluded. “We are therefore calling on the University of Kent to consider precautionary steps to prioritize the well-being of students and staff during this situation.

MEASLES OUTBREAK EXPLODES IN SOUTH CAROLINA, MULTIPLE HOSPITALIZED AS CASES SURPASS 200

Preventative antibiotic treatment is being distributed to University of Kent students, according to UKHSA, as well as to those who visited Club Chemistry, a nightclub in Canterbury, between March 5 and March 7.

“A vaccination program has started for students and staff who live in or work in the halls at the University of Kent Canterbury Campus — approximately 5,000 students,” the agency noted.

Fox News Digital reached out to the university requesting comment.

Symptoms of meningococcal disease

Described by the CDC as a “rare but severe illness,” meningococcal disease most commonly causes symptoms of meningitis, including fever, stiff neck, headache, nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light or altered mental status.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES

It can also cause meningococcal bloodstream infection, which is marked by fever and chills, vomiting, fatigue, vomiting, cold hands and feet, severe aches and pains, diarrhea, rapid breathing or a dark purple rash, the CDC notes.

Transmission and treatment

Meningitis infections can spread through close contact with someone who has meningococcal disease, “generally, through things like coughing or kissing, but it can also spread by being in the same household or room for extended periods of time with an individual who is infected,” Dr. Barbara Bawer, a primary care physician at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, previously told Fox News Digital.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is contacting 30,000 students and staff of the university to notify them of the outbreak. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

Those who have symptoms of the disease should see their primary care physician immediately, according to the doctor.

As symptoms tend to progress quickly and can be life-threatening, it is essential that the patient receives antibiotics immediately.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER

“It can become fatal or dangerous very quickly — within hours — for any individual, especially if antibiotics are not initiated in a timely manner,” Bawer warned. “Even with antibiotics, meningitis can be fatal.”

She added, “This is often due to misdiagnosis, because meningitis can mimic many other illnesses.”

Infection prevention

Most cases of meningococcal disease worldwide are caused by six variations of the Neisseria meningitidis bacteria — A, B, C, W, X and Y.

In the U.S., the most common variations are B, C, W and Y. There are vaccines available to protect against types A, C, W and Y (the MenACWY vaccine) and type B (MenB vaccine), according to the CDC.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“MenACWY vaccines are routinely recommended for adolescents and for people with other risk factors or underlying medical conditions, including HIV,” the agency previously stated.

“Students should not feel forced to choose between protecting their well-being and continuing their education.”

Advertisement

To reduce risk, Bawer recommends that people get vaccinated with the current meningitis vaccine as recommended by the CDC and avoid being in very closed-in spaces with others as much as possible.

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

“If you know of someone who has meningitis in your household or you’ve come in contact with their oral secretions (i.e., you kissed them), then you should get preventative antibiotics,” the doctor told Fox News Digital.

This is even more important for those who are immune-compromised or who are on medications that decrease the immune system, Bawer added.

Melissa Rudy is senior health editor and a member of the lifestyle team at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to melissa.rudy@fox.com.