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EXPLAINS. WE’VE COLLECTED BLOOD SAMPLES, URINE SAMPLES, TOENAIL SAMPLES, AND WE’VE COLLECTED MANY OF THESE SAMPLES REPEATEDLY OVER TIME. THE NUMBER CATALOGED HERE IS IN THE MILLIONS SINCE 1976, MORE THAN 280,000 NURSES OF DIFFERENT AGES AND BACKGROUNDS DONATING THEIR OWN BIOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. THEN RECORDING DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR HEALTH, LIFESTYLE AND MEDICATIONS FOR RESEARCHERS LIKE DOCTOR WALTER WILLETT. WE HAVE DOZENS OF BIG NITROGEN FREEZERS THAT ALMOST AS TALL AS I AM, LOADED WITH THOUSANDS OF SAMPLES, AND THAT TAKES ACTUALLY ABOUT $300,000 A YEAR JUST TO PROVIDE THE LIQUID NITROGEN TO KEEP THOSE SAMPLES COLD. BUT THEN LAST SPRING, THE FUNDING STOPPED. ESSENTIALLY, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, TRUMP DECIDED TO ATTACK HARVARD BASICALLY ON THE BASIS OF BEING ANTI-SEMITIC, TERMINATED ALL RESEARCH, ALL FUNDING TO HARVARD. AND THAT INCLUDED OUR STUDIES. SINCE THEN, THIS SMALL TEAM HAS BEEN SCRAMBLING FOR NEW SOURCES OF SUPPORT JUST TO KEEP THESE FREEZERS FROZEN. REALLY? REMARKABLY, A NUMBER OF OUR PARTICIPANTS THEMSELVES HAVE SENT CHECKS. I THINK THEY UNDERSTAND THIS IS A GENERATIONAL TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION THAT CAN HELP THEIR KIDS, THEIR GRANDCHILDREN, AND EVERYBODY AROUND THE WORLD. IN THE PAST YEAR ALONE, RESEARCHERS HAVE USED THIS DATA TO TEST THEORIES ABOUT PARKINSON’S DISEASE, TYPE TWO DIABETES, BREAST CANCER, AND DEMENTIA. SOON, IT WILL BE HOW PEOPLE CAN LIVE TO 100 WITH GOOD PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH. PARTICIPANTS ARE REACHING THAT PERIOD OF THEIR LIFE AND WILL HAVE THE BEST INFORMATION ANYWHERE ON THAT, BECAUSE WE KNOW WHAT THEY’VE BEEN EATING, WHAT THEY’VE BEEN DOING AND WHAT MEDICINES THEY’VE BEEN TAKING OVER THE LAST 50 YEARS. REPORTER BUT FOR NOW, THE ONLY QUESTION THAT RESEARCHERS WANT ANSWERED CAN THIS COLLECTION STAY COLD AND ACCESSIBLE FOR ANOTHER 50 YEARS? I REGARD MYSELF AS SORT OF A CUSTODIAN. I THINK THE DATA THAT WE’RE PROVIDING REALLY DOES HELP EVERYBODY, WHETHER YOU’RE LIVING IN A RED STATE OR A BLUE STATE, BUT ALL OF A SUDDEN IT’S BECOME DIVISIVE. FOR NOW, THE LAB IS OPTIMISTIC IT CAN KEEP THE FREEZERS ON THROUGH THE END OF THE YEAR. IT’S ALSO CURRENTLY RECRUITING A THIRD COHORT OF NURSES TO JOIN THE STUDY. BUT IF FEDERAL FUNDING IS NOT RESTORED OR THERE’S NO NEW SOURCE OF MONEY, THE LAB AND ALL OF ITS DATA WILL LIKELY DISA
After funding halt, Harvard nurses health study scrambles to save 50 years of samples
Updated: 9:41 AM EDT Oct 4, 2025
The key to living a long and happy life hasn’t been found yet.But some researchers believe it could be hiding inside the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.See the story in the video aboveThat’s where nearly 50 years of data from the Nurses’ Health Study is stored.”We’ve collected blood samples, urine samples, toenail samples,” said Dr. Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition. “And we’ve collected many of these samples repeatedly over time.”The number catalogued at the school’s biorepository is in the millions.Since 1976, more than 280,000 nurses of different ages and backgrounds have donated their own biological specimens and provided detailed information about their health, lifestyle, and medications for researchers like Willett to study.”We have dozens of big nitrogen freezers that are almost as tall as I am,” Willett said. “It takes about $300,000 a year just to provide liquid nitrogen to keep those samples cold.”But then last spring, the funding stopped.”Essentially, the federal government — Trump — decided to attack Harvard,” Willett said. “And basically, on the basis of being antisemitic, (it) terminated all research, all funding to Harvard, and that included our studies.”Since then, a small team has been scrambling for new sources of support, just to keep these freezers frozen.”Really remarkably, a number of our participants themselves have sent checks,” Willett said. “I think they understand this is a generational transfer of knowledge and information that can help their kids, their grandchildren, and everybody around the world.”In the past year alone, researchers have used the collection to test theories about Parkinson’s disease, Type 2 diabetes, breast cancer and dementia.Soon, they hope to discover how to live to 100 with good physical and mental health.”We’re just at a point where some of our participants are reaching that period of their life,” Willett said. “We’ll have the best information anywhere on that because we know what they’ve been eating, what they’ve been doing, and what medicines they’ve been taking over the last 50 years.”But for now, the only question that researchers want answered is whether this collection can stay cold — and accessible — for another 50 years.”I regard myself as sort of a custodian,” Willett said. “The data that we’re providing really does help everybody, whether you’re living in a red state or a blue state, but all of a sudden, it’s become divisive.”
The key to living a long and happy life hasn’t been found yet.
But some researchers believe it could be hiding inside the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.
See the story in the video above
That’s where nearly 50 years of data from the Nurses’ Health Study is stored.
“We’ve collected blood samples, urine samples, toenail samples,” said Dr. Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition. “And we’ve collected many of these samples repeatedly over time.”
The number catalogued at the school’s biorepository is in the millions.
Since 1976, more than 280,000 nurses of different ages and backgrounds have donated their own biological specimens and provided detailed information about their health, lifestyle, and medications for researchers like Willett to study.
“We have dozens of big nitrogen freezers that are almost as tall as I am,” Willett said. “It takes about $300,000 a year just to provide liquid nitrogen to keep those samples cold.”
But then last spring, the funding stopped.
“Essentially, the federal government — Trump — decided to attack Harvard,” Willett said. “And basically, on the basis of being antisemitic, (it) terminated all research, all funding to Harvard, and that included our studies.”
Since then, a small team has been scrambling for new sources of support, just to keep these freezers frozen.
“Really remarkably, a number of our participants themselves have sent checks,” Willett said. “I think they understand this is a generational transfer of knowledge and information that can help their kids, their grandchildren, and everybody around the world.”
In the past year alone, researchers have used the collection to test theories about Parkinson’s disease, Type 2 diabetes, breast cancer and dementia.
Soon, they hope to discover how to live to 100 with good physical and mental health.
“We’re just at a point where some of our participants are reaching that period of their life,” Willett said. “We’ll have the best information anywhere on that because we know what they’ve been eating, what they’ve been doing, and what medicines they’ve been taking over the last 50 years.”
But for now, the only question that researchers want answered is whether this collection can stay cold — and accessible — for another 50 years.
“I regard myself as sort of a custodian,” Willett said. “The data that we’re providing really does help everybody, whether you’re living in a red state or a blue state, but all of a sudden, it’s become divisive.”
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