Trump stops funding for life-saving infant heart device research, cancels $6.7 million grant

President Donald Trump’s administration has stopped funding for a team researching ways to help infants with heart defects. Dr. James Antaki, a professor of biomedical engineering at Cornell University, told NBC News that the Department of Defense has cancelled a $6.7 million grant that would allow him to continue researching PediaFlow, a device that could boost blood flow in infants with heart defects.

Here are key things you need to know:

-The Trump administration has revoked funding for a pioneering heart device designed to save the lives of critically ill infants, only days after it was granted by the US department of defense.

-Awarded by the Department of Defense on March 30, it would allow Dr James' team at Cornell to ramp up production and testing of PediaFlow, a device that boosts blood flow in infants with heart defects. A week later, that all changed.


-On April 8, the Defense Department issued a stop-work order to Antaki, notifying him that his team would no longer receive the funding that was meant to be distributed over four years. With three decades of research now in jeopardy, Antaki said he has no explanation for the government's decision to terminate the support.

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-Antaki’s device, which he began developing in 2003, is the size of an AA battery and helps increase blood flow to babies born with a hole between the chambers of their heart. According to The Independent, the device aids in their survival until they can undergo surgery or receive a donated heart.

- Antaki’s three decades of research are now in jeopardy. If funding is not restored within three months, his lab will have to reduce staff, and the PhD students will need to pursue a different area of research. “I feel that it’s my calling in life to complete this project,” he said.

-“Once a week, I go through this mental process of, ‘Is it time to give up?’ But it is not my prerogative to give up.” Antaki says this grant is a “small amount of money that could do so much good for so many people,” compared to the federal government's budget.

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-Dr. Evan Zahn, a pediatric interventional cardiologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center who isn’t involved in Antaki’s research, said the loss of funding is a major blow to pediatric research. “Technology specifically designed for our children, particularly babies across the board, is desperately needed, so losing funding for something like that is a real loss,” he told NBC News.

-These cuts, part of Trump’s directive to downsize the federal government, come as the administration claims to support new parents and even says it wants to financially incentivize Americans to have more children.

-Furthermore, the president recently proposed a $5,000 “baby bonus” for new parents, while the White House has reportedly considered proposals to award a “National Medal of Motherhood” to mothers with six or more children.