93% of Cancer Disparity Researchers Hit by Federal Funding Freeze

For healthcare leaders and policymakers, the AACR report is a red alert: the abrupt cancellation of hundreds of NCI grants and a sweeping funding chill are undoing years of progress in cancer equity. This isn't just a research hiccup—it's a direct hit to community health, clinical outcomes, and the trust of underserved populations.

A recent report from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) reveals a staggering blow to the field of cancer disparities research: 93% of surveyed researchers say federal funding changes have disrupted their work. The survey, which polled 122 scientists, professors, and students, lays bare a crisis triggered by policy shifts that began in early 2025. Seventy-eight percent of respondents reported they have been unable to apply for new funding, and 59% said ongoing research projects were halted mid-stream. The human toll is immediate and brutal. "Many medical trials were stopped in the middle — meaning those patients suddenly didn't receive the treatments they were getting, because the funding stopped," said Mariana Stern, professor of preventive medicine and urology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and chair of the report committee. Clinical trials were not the only casualty; community-based interventions, longitudinal studies, and screening programs were also suspended. The funding freeze has been especially devastating because cancer disparities research had been making measurable progress in closing outcome gaps. Rural Americans, for instance, are 18% more likely to die from cancer overall, and Black women are 35% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women—statistics that the field was working to reduce. Now, that forward momentum has ground to a halt.

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Data published in JAMA Oncology in November 2025 showed that in roughly the first half of 2025, the Trump administration canceled 181 grants from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), totaling more than $317 million.

The financial scope of the cuts is immense. Data published in JAMA Oncology in November 2025 showed that in roughly the first half of 2025, the Trump administration canceled 181 grants from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), totaling more than $317 million. Many of these grants were focused on understanding and eliminating cancer disparities. The nonprofit Grant Witness, which tracks federal science funding, estimates that thousands of grants across the National Institutes of Health (NIH) were terminated in 2025. The root cause traces back to an executive order issued in January 2025 that empowered the administration to freeze or cut scientific research dollars, particularly those linked to diversity, equity, and inclusion—topics central to disparities work. This was followed by a push from the White House Office of Management and Budget to seize greater control over billions in federal grants, a move that critics warn would politicize the peer-review process and undermine scientific integrity.