The following information is from Children’s Health Defense.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is shutting down a research center launched by Dr. Anthony Fauci that handed out millions in taxpayer funds to scientists who pushed the now-disputed claim that COVID-19 came from animals in the wild, according to a report by The Disinformation Chronicle .

The Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases (CREID) began in 2020 with $17 million in initial grants and a planned $82 million more. Among the recipients:  Peter Daszak, Ph.D. of the EcoHealth Alliance and Kristian Andersen, Ph.D., of Scripps Research Institute — both central figures in promoting the natural origin theory.

Daszak is under fire for channeling funds to Wuhan researcher Shi Zhengli — widely known as the “Bat Lady” — through a subaward issued by EcoHealth Alliance. The group also failed to respond to NIH safety concerns tied to research conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. As a result, the Dept. of Health and Human Services suspended its federal funding.

The Dept. of Justice has opened inquiries into Andersen’s grant. In March 2020, Andersen co-authored the widely cited Proximal Origin paper that helped discredit the lab-leak theory. Just weeks later, he received a grant from the very NIH program Fauci had launched — a connection now under investigation by the Trump administration as a possible quid pro quo.

Although Andersen privately said a lab leak was “highly likely,” he briefed the State Dept., CIA, and FBI dismissing the theory. A State Dept. official later called his conduct a “counterintelligence matter” that could warrant a grand jury.

In April, the Trump administration launched a revamped government COVID-19 website presenting evidence that the virus leaked from the Wuhan lab. Multiple federal agencies — including the CIA, FBI, US Department of Energy, and Congress — have now endorsed the lab-leak theory as the likely origin of COVID-19.

NIH confirmed it is terminating all CREID funding. A spokesperson said:

“Strengthening overall health through proactive disease prevention offers a more resilient foundation for responding to future health threats — beyond reliance on vaccines or treatments for yet-unknown pathogens.”

In response to mounting scrutiny over foreign research ties and safety concerns, NIH introduced a new rule barring US grant recipients from outsourcing projects to labs abroad through subawards.

For more information, read the full article here.