Health Friday 7.24.2026 Open Thread: HHS Still Funding Gain-of-Function Experiments: on the Avian Influenza Virus; on HIV: and, with the Wuhan Institute of Virology

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HHS is Still Funding Gain-of-Function Experiments on the Avian Influenza Virus

Yours Truly begins here: https://jonfleetwood.substack.com/p/hhs-funds-experiments-determining, “HHS Funds Experiments Determining How to Make H5 Influenza More Pathogenic: Journal ‘Science'”, 1 July 2026. Please see the screenshot from this article, below:

The paper cited in the Fleetwood article is here: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adr6632, “Polymerase trapping as the mechanism of H5 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus genes”; Mathis Funk, et al.; 12 March 2026. This paper was Received on 11 July 2024; Resubmitted on 17 July 2025; Accepted on 21 November 2025; and, Published in print on 12 March 2026. This paper was funded, in part, by NIH / NIAID grants: HHSN2722014-00008C; 75N93201C00014; and, 1R01AI177487. These grants were awarded to Ron A.M. Fouchier and to Mathilde Richard. Dr. Richard and Dr. Fouchier work at Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. This raises important questions: One: Why was / is NIH-NIAID funding research performed at a university outside of the United States?; and, Two: Why was / is NIH-NIAID continuing to fund research into making the H5 Avian Influenza virus more dangerous and deadly? Please see the screenshots, below, from the AAAS website (https://www.science.org/, American Association for the Advancement of Science) for this paper:

Then, after Gain-of-Function experiments are performed by Funk, et al., with the furin cleavage site of the H5 Avian Influenza virus, they apparently concluded that this virus can become more pathological. Please see the screenshot, below, from the AAAS website for this paper:

The NIH-NIAID grants for this paper were also solicited by Mathis Funk, the lead author of the paper, who was associated with Erasmus University. Mr. Funk passed away on 28 November 2024, at the age of 34. The paper mentions his passing with the statement that he “left the world too soon.”

Yours Truly did some more digging on the NIH-NIAID 1R01AI177487 grant listed above. In addition to the original grant, Dr. Mathilde Richard was also awarded a “sub-grant”, 1R01AI177487-01, on 1 August 2023, with a “Project end date” of 31 July 2028. Please see: https://reporter.nih.gov/search/qKxmt58hnkKa7rYIA1rSKg/projects. The NIH-NIAID employee who is the “Contact” for this grant is Brooke Allison Bozick, PhD. She is listed as “Program officer, Influenza and Rhinovirus Pathogen Biology and Clinical Research” at https://www.niaid.nih.gov/about/respiratory-disease-branch-contacts. Ms. Bozick has been an employee of HHS (NIH – NIAID) since at least 2019, including work involving CEIRR (Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response [NIAID].) This raises the question: Why is NIH – NIAID funding the Gain-of-Function work of Dr. Richard all the way up to 31 July 2028?

Yours Truly did some more digging on the HHSSN27220140008C grant listed above. This grant been active since at least 2016. In fact, this grant ALSO funded Gain-of-Function research at the (infamous) Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka lab for research into Avian Influenza at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: https://wisc.edu/h7n9-influenza-is-both-lethal-and-transmissible-in-animal-model-for-flu/, Kelly April Tyrrell, 19 April 2017. The mention of the HHSN grant is at the end of the article.

Yours Truly did some more digging on the NIH-NIAID 75N93021C00014 grant listed above. This grant has been active since at least 2021. In fact, this grant ALSO funded Gain-of-Function research on Avian Influenza at the Kawaoka lab at the University of Wisconsin; at the University of Tokyo; and, at Cairo University, Egypt. Please see: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2025.105842, “Susceptibility and shedding in Mx1 and Mx1- female mice experimentally infected with dairy cattle A(H5N1) influenza viruses”, Asim Biswas, et al.; Published 8 July 2025.

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Now, to another item: it appears that HHS, via NIH-NIAID, is still funding Gain-of-Function research involving personnel connected with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV.) Yes, WIV — where Dr. Zheng-li Shi took the samples of the “enhanced with SHC014 bat coronvirus lab-created SARS-CoV-2 virus “template” that was “invented” and Patented by Dr. Ralph Baric, PhD, at his lab at UNC Chapel Hill: for the purpose of FURTHER ENHANCING this “template virus” in order to make MORE PATHOGENIC AND MORE LETHAL. Which SARS-CoV-2 virus was released into the world in late 2019, presumably, as a “lab leak”; and, presumably, before the virus was “finished” via the “enhancement process” at WIV. However, nobody knows for sure whether or not the SARS-CoV-2 virus (that became known as COVID-19) was “finished”, or if it was “still in the finishing process” when it was released. The HHS grants involved are: K08AI183990 (NIH-NIAID; granted in 2024 to the University of Washington, to John K. Bui); R01AI174304 (NIH-NIAID; granted in 2023 to the University of Washington, to Andre Michael Lieber); and, R01HL130040 (HL-NHLBI-NIH-HHS; granted in 2019, with continuing funding, to the University of Washington, to Andre Michael Lieber.)

The paper that was Epublished on 13 March 2026, funded by these grants, is here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymthe.2026.03.018, “In vitro and in vivo base editing of CCR5 in hematopoeitic stem cells confers HIV-1 resistance”, Anna K. Anderson, Chang Li, et al. Chang Li is affiliated with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Please see the screenshot of the Abstract from this paper, below:

And, from the paper, the affiliation of Chang Li with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, from the Affiliations and Notes drop-down section:

This raises the question: Why is this research, while worthy and can produce significant positive results, has anyone from the Wuhan Institute of Virology involved?

In summary: the United States government, via HHS (NIH-NIAID) is still using taxpayer money to fund Gain-of-Function research on the Avian Influenza virus in The Netherlands, in Japan, and in Egypt; and, to fund Gain-of-Function research on elements of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that involves personnel from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. None of this is acceptable.

Peace, Good Energy, Respect: PAVACA1

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