With the stroke of a pen, the NIH's largest and longest study of women's health lost its federal funding in another brutal cut by HHS -- and experts are worried about what losing this vital ongoing study will mean for the field of women's health research.

A spokesperson said Thursday that "NIH initially exceeded its internal targets for contract reductions" in explaining the reversal days after cuts had been announced.

The agency did not define what it meant by DEI efforts, leaving institutions to try to interpret whether their programs are implicated.