House Republicans seek review of National Institutes of Health research safeguards

In a letter to the Governmental Accountability Office (GAO), House Republican leaders of the Energy and Commerce Committee and its subcommittees urged an investigation of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and how it protects research funds from Chinese exploitation.

Accusing China of pushing to use these funds for military advantages and unethical use of human beings in research studies, the E&C Republicans called on GAO Comptroller General Gene Dodaro to investigate NIH’s vetting procedures, its policies on restricting the ability of its funded partners from co-authoring publications with entities of concern, and whether the organization considers the possible dual-use (military and civilian applications) of its funded research, among other concerns.

“Recent reports have raised concerns about the NIH’s ability to screen for national security Issues,” wrote E&C Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), alongside Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY), and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA).

The legislators cited press investigations, the committee’s investigations of the COVID-19 pandemic’s origins, as well as recent reports from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and GAO itself, which questioned NIH’s safeguarding issues related to foreign grant recipients.

In their letter, the lawmakers stated particular concerns over NIH funding tied to researchers affiliated with seven Chinese military defense industry-aligned universities known as the Seven Sons of National Defense. Of continuing concern was funding that benefited or inadvertently supported the unethical use of Chinese ethnic minority data in research studies, as through the Tibetan or Uyghur populations. They also balked at funding for certain Chinese research entities like BGI – a Shenzhen, China-based firm the government used to build and operate the China National GeneBank.