The National Institutes of Health agreed to review hundreds of grant applications that had been paused under administration directives restricting research on diversity‑related topics. The settlement, reached amid litigation brought by scientific organizations and individual plaintiffs, requires NIH to evaluate the applications on scientific merits and to refrain from applying the contested directives during review. Plaintiffs, including investigators working on Alzheimer’s, HIV and minority health, welcomed the decision as a restoration of standard peer review processes. The agreement does not guarantee funding but reinstates the conventional merit‑based pathway and reduces near‑term uncertainty for numerous researchers and institutions.