A University of Maryland program that encourages undergraduate minority students to research communication sciences and disorders was making strides to help people learn and communicate better — until its grant, like 78 others in Maryland, was cut in May.

UMD-REACH —Research, Equity, and Access in Communication and Hearing — was one of the lucky 47 projects in the state that have seen their National Institutes of Health grant reinstated since the initial May cut by the Trump administration. But program officials said the delay came with a cost.

“We’re happy about the reinstatement, but at the same time, it’s taken a lot of time and work for a bunch of people who would rather be helping people learn things and helping people be healthier,” Matthew Goupell, a co-director of the UMD-REACH program, said.

While UMD-REACH is once again receiving funds from NIH following the July reinstatement, its research and student training has slowed down. The organization is among dozens in Maryland that have seen funding abruptly turned off and then reinstated, disrupting research and programs.

“We had to all spend a lot of time dealing with the uncertainty, and that just takes away from the ability to progress the science,” said Goupell. “It’s about a limitation on our time and our productivity for these slowdowns.”

UMD-REACH was told its grant was being terminated because NIH policy does not prioritize research programs as part of diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, efforts, according to an email Goupell received from NIH.

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