Alabama universities have lost $35 million due to President Donald Trump’s recent order to cut grants that pay for research that might involve diversity, equity and inclusion.

In Alabama, that means research into childhood cancer, veterans in higher education and student participation in STEM fields are on the chopping block. More cuts could be coming.

Christina Steidl, who’s been researching veterans’ career trajectories for almost a decade, lost an $80,498 grant to study veterans’ college trajectories at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. She was analyzing the differences between men and women, among other things; she believes the word “gender” in the grant’s title likely triggered the cut.

“It’s disappointing that’s the strategy and we’re losing a lot of government-funded research,” Steidl said.

The Washington Post and other outlets have reported that federal workers are combing through keywords in active research projects in an effort to cut projects that promote diversity “principles and frameworks.”

The National Institutes of Health has canceled $11.5 million in remaining grant funding for Auburn University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, according to the tracker. About $10.2 million of the total funding budgeted has been spent.

UAB and other institutions also are battling federal efforts to cut the amount of money they can claim in indirect costs on NIH grants.

The National Science Foundation has terminated $24 million in science, technology, engineering and mathematics grants at multiple Alabama universities, according to Grant-Watch.us.

Last month, Kathy Thompson’s funding for racial equity in STEM education research, budgeted at more than $1 million, was cut. She is director of the Center for Innovation and Post Secondary Education at the University of South Alabama.

She said her research benefited first-generation and rural students of all races.

“Equity doesn’t mean anything ugly,” Thompson said. “It means that we’re giving every person who wants it the opportunity to achieve. That’s what it means. We’re leveling the playing field.”

She said she’ll continue to apply for NSF grants, but hopes the termination of federal research grants will jolt voters into action.

“We need a jerk every now and then,” Thompson said, gesturing a shaking motion with her hands.

She believes the funding fallout will encourage people to “wrestle with their future around decisions about who they vote for. And hopefully they will really think about that in the future and think about who best represents them.”

Thompson’s research focused on barriers that cause students to change from STEM majors to a different degree. Data shows that Black and Hispanic students have some of the lowest graduation rates in STEM degrees, according to Pew Research.

“I will continue to be a voice of hope and optimism and continue to help as many students and institutions that want help and will take advantage of my expertise,” Thompson said.

“The U.S. National Science Foundation has undertaken a review of its award portfolio,” letters terminating grants at the University of South Alabama read. “Each award was carefully and individually reviewed, and the agency has determined that termination of certain awards is necessary because they are not in alignment with current NSF priorities.”

The termination decisions are not subject to appeal, according to the letter. “No other rationale was provided,” said Lance Crawford, public relations director at the University of South Alabama.

Canceled NIH grants included studies on eating disorders among the LGBTQ community, Black and Latino people with autoimmune disease and the effects of COVID-19 on children undergoing chemotherapy.

AL.com reached out to affected researchers for comment. University administrators at the University of Alabama, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Tuskegee University and Auburn University did not respond to requests for comment before publication. The grants, amounts and associated universities are provided below.

Many canceled grants are the same that were deemed “neo-Marxist class warfare propaganda” in February by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. The Grant-Watch tracker notes which of the grants are on Cruzs’ list.

Noam Ross, one of the founders of the Grant-Watch.us site, started the tracker to inform researchers and the public on the status of funding and to encourage advocacy to preserve it. The tracker includes information on which federal congressional district is affected by an individual grant’s termination.

“It is very dispiriting to see, among the many other awful actions of this administration, that people are in charge who have no appreciation for the value of something,” Ross said.

As of April 29, more than $2 billion in grant funding has been cancelled nationwide.