After litigation over diversity‑related directives, the National Institutes of Health agreed to evaluate hundreds of paused grant applications on scientific merit, according to court filings referenced in reporting. The stalled applications—ranging from Alzheimer’s studies to minority‑health projects—had been paused under new directives that limited funding for research tied to diversity, gender identity or COVID. The settlement does not require NIH to fund the proposals but directs the agency to process them through the ordinary scientific review pipeline without applying the challenged directives; a judge will oversee the implementation. Plaintiffs, including scientific organizations and individual investigators, stated they hoped for fair evaluation and restoration of normal review procedures. The resolution reduces immediate administrative disruption for affected investigators and could influence institutions’ decisions about submitting diversity‑related research in the near term.