Penn faculty ordered to halt $175M in federal research funding as Trump upheaval deepens

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Faculty across seven schools at the University of Pennsylvania have been ordered to stop federally funded research as widespread funding cuts from President Donald Trump’s administration take effect.

Penn President Larry Jameson said Tuesday that the research terminations total approximately $175 million, deepening the financial upheaval at Philadelphia’s largest private employer. Administrators and local lawmakers have expressed growing concern in recent days about the Trump administration’s attacks on Penn after it allowed a transgender woman to compete in its athletics programs.

In an interview with WHYY News on Friday, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said the federal government appeared to have a “misunderstanding” of Penn’s guidelines, adding that he would discuss the issue with university leaders in the coming weeks.

Penn does not have a specific policy for transgender athletes and follows NCAA and Ivy League conference guidance, which was updated after a Trump executive order to bar transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.

Among the contracts impacted by Trump’s cuts are “lifesaving and life-improving” research “on preventing hospital-acquired infections, drug screening against deadly viruses, quantum computing, protections against chemical warfare, and student loan programs,” Jameson wrote in a message to the university community Tuesday afternoon.

The White House has not told Penn how to get the money back, in contrast to its approach to Columbia University. Leaders at that school submitted to the Trump administration’s demands in an ongoing effort to restore $400 million in funding.

A Penn spokesperson did not immediately respond to WHYY News’ request to view the stop work orders reported by faculty. The orders are separate from the cancellation of other federal research grants and a slowdown in future grant giving, Jameson said.

The latest $175 million in cuts is on top of a pending $240 million cut that Penn faces if the National Institutes of Health moves forward with reducing the amount of money it gives universities and research institutions for indirect costs, such as equipment and overhead. The university received around $1 billion in funding from the federal government in 2024.

The financial uncertainty has prompted Penn to freeze hiring, evaluate capital spending, reduce graduate admissions and urge community members to launch a vigorous defense of higher education.

“We value the long-standing partnership with the federal government to carry out research that makes America stronger and healthier,” Jameson said. “I hope we can restore trust and refocus on creativity, innovation, and training.”

Jameson’s message is the first confirmation from Penn that the Trump administration has made good on its pledge to suspend $175 million in funding to the Ivy League from the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense. The university said it had not received official notification of any funding pause until Tuesday.

“This is immediate proactive action to review discretionary funding streams [to Penn],” a senior White House official told WHYY News on March 19.

The Perelman School of Medicine has not yet disclosed what share of the $175 million was directed for research among its faculty. But Dean Jonathan Epstein said last week the school already stands to lose $140 million if the NIH’s planned cost reductions proceed.

He added that individual NIH Individual grants have also been canceled because of the Trump administration’s priorities, including culling research funds related to diversity, equity and inclusion. In the past five weeks, the federal government has pulled funding from Penn for research projects related to HIV and HIV prevention.

Other canceled grants focused on nicotine addiction and vaping among sexual and gender minorities. Researchers were informed that the awards they received were “incompatible with agency priorities, and no modification of the project could align the project with agency priorities,” according to termination letters obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian.

The school can’t simply tap into its endowment to mitigate its growing losses to research funding, Epstein said — despite being urged to do so by students, faculty and local lawmakers. He said that Penn Medicine’s endowment is actually a collection of endowments funded by donors who ask that they be restricted for “specific purposes.” Some donors provide “more flexible terms” to the university which could allow their money to be used to address the most critical gaps, he added.

Epstein warned that even those endowments could not stop the school from curtailing activities if it faces a significant loss in NIH revenue.

While Penn has thus far escaped the Trump administration’s campaign against elite colleges over allegations of antisemitism, the university has faced years of political onslaught for allowing transgender athlete Lia Thomas to compete on its women’s swimming team, where she won three Ivy League titles and an NCAA title.

Thomas’ record-breaking success drew the ire of competitors, some of whom, alongside Republican lawmakers, have publicly denounced her participation. On Feb. 6, three of Thomas’ teammates sued Penn and the NCAA, hours after the Office of Civil Rights launched a Title IX investigation over allegations of sex discrimination in Penn’s athletics programs.

The university is “vigorously defending its position” to the OCR, Jameson said, noting that Penn was in full compliance with existing NCAA rules and Title IX policies when Thomas swam with the women’s team.

Epstein nodded to the school’s challenges in an announcement Monday that former NIH Director Monica Bertagnoll would deliver the commencement address at this year’s ceremony for graduates of the Perelman School of Medicine.

“At a time of rapid changes to health and healthcare delivery, we are fortunate to welcome such a tireless advocate, scientist, and educator to address our graduating class,” he said.