The U.S. prohibits access to biomedical databases for the Cuban regime

The United States government banned researchers from the Cuban regime from accessing 21 biomedical databases from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to "prevent the misuse of sensitive information" by countries deemed adversarial.

The decision, announced on April 2 and effective from the 4th, is part of a tightening of security policies under the administration of Donald Trump, reported the magazine Science.

Explain that the measure affects scientists from Cuba, China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela, who will no longer be able to access databases containing critical information about diseases such as cancer, neurological disorders, and genetic variations.

Among the restricted resources is the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, which collects functional magnetic resonance imaging data and other neurological studies from over 11,000 children in the U.S.

It also includes the SEER program, the largest cancer case database in the world.

"This new blockade will undoubtedly affect our understanding of many diseases and could have consequences for patients," stated Tania Crombet Ramos, medical director of the Molecular Immunology Center in Havana.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the NIH “are terminating all current projects” involving researchers or institutions in sanctioned countries.

The agency—which under the new administration of Donald Trump is facing potential layoffs of around 10,000 employees—justified the measure by pointing to the need to protect biometric data, genomic information, medical records, and geolocation data from possible use for espionage, blackmail, or the development of biological weapons.

"The NIH takes the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of participant data very seriously," stated spokesperson Andrew Nixon. The new policy responds to directives from the Department of Justice from last January and to compliance with Executive Order 14117.

The Cuban neuroinformatics expert Pedro Antonio Valdés Sosa, currently in China, criticized the decision and labeled it as a "useless expression of resentment." He pointed out that some now-banned databases were "crucial for understanding brain disorders."

International experts warn that this type of restriction could have a domino effect. Venezuelan neuroscientist Gladys Maestre, based in Texas, expressed her concern over the exclusion of Latin American colleagues and cautioned that other countries might adopt reciprocal measures against American scientists.

For years, Chinese researchers have faced difficulties accessing data from the NIH, but now the ban is total. “The data from the ABCD study was a global benchmark; now we are deprived of a key tool for science,” said a Chinese researcher who requested anonymity.

The Chinese group BGI, which had contributed data to some of the affected databases, expressed its rejection of the measure, stating that biomedical information "represents a shared human legacy that should benefit all of humanity."

In Cuba, this new barrier represents yet another obstacle for the already weakened national scientific community, constrained by technological restrictions, lack of access to financing, and now, informational isolation in such a critical area as public health.

Frequently Asked Questions about the U.S. Ban on Cuban Researchers