Judicial Watch Sues HHS for Records of Taxpayer Funding of Human Fetal Tissue Research at Univ. of Pittsburgh

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for records from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) related to a federally funded human fetal tissue research program at the University of Pittsburgh (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (No. 1:25-cv-04498)).

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Distrcit Court for the District of Columbia after the National Institutes of Health, a component of Health and Human Services, failed to comply with a May 30, 2025, FOIA request for:

All documents and communications of officials in the Office of Extramural Research concerning the Final Research Performance Progress Report (FRPPR) for the GUDMAP program at the University of Pittsburgh (Project Number U24-DK110791-01).

The National Institutes of Health’s Office of Extramural Research provides guidance to institutes in research and training programs conducted through extramural (grant, contract, cooperative agreement) programs. 

The GenitoUrinary (reproductive and urinary) Development Molecular Anatomy Project (GUDMAP) is a research consortium that receives funding from the National Institutes of Health. The abstract for project number 1U24DK110791-01 is titled “University of Pittsburgh as the GUDMAP Tissue Hub and Collection Site.” The fiscal year 2016 grant for $600,000 supported the procurement, processing, and distribution of human fetal tissues. The abstract states in part:

The Health Sciences Tissue Bank (HSTB) at the University of Pittsburgh has been involved in human tissue procurement for over 18 years … HSTB has an established program accruing fetal tissues. The fetal tissue IRB has been in place since 2005. HSTB has the infrastructure for dissecting specimens and collecting different tissue types. In this calendar year, we have disbursed over 300 fresh samples collected from 77 cases. The collections can be significantly ramped up as material could have been accrued from as many as 725 cases last year. We have preliminary data showing that we can isolate the human urogenital system (kidneys, ureters and bladders) from various developmental ages (6-24 weeks). We have produced publication quality images of these genitourinary organs (including kidneys and bladder) and have also been able to isolate and expand cells from various genitourinary organs.

In August 2021, Judicial Watch and the Center for Medical Progress uncovered Health and Human Services records that revealed nearly $3 million in federal funds were spent on the University of Pittsburgh’s quest to become a “tissue hub” for human fetal tissue ranging from six to 42 weeks gestation.

“Americans have a right to know basic information about the taxpayer-funded abortion industrial complex,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “As long as the government continues to fund these gruesome projects, Judicial Watch will work to expose them.”

Judicial Watch recently sued the U.S. Department of Justice for records of communications between senior officials and key members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee concerning Planned Parenthood, abortion, and the transfer of human fetal tissue.

In July 2023, Judicial Watch filed two amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs to the Supreme Court of the United States in support of The Center for Medical Progress (CMP) and its founder Daleiden, asking for review of the Ninth Circuit Court’s affirmation of a monetary award against CMP (Center for Medical Progress et al. v Planned Parent Hood et al. (22-1168)), the other asks for review of an injunction granted to the National Abortion Federation that prevents CMP from publishing more abortion-related videos (Center for Medical Progress et al. v National Abortion Federation (22-1135)).  

In April 2022, Judicial Watch obtained records revealing that the Associate Senior Vice Chancellor for Science Strategy and Planning in the Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Jeremy Berg, contacted then-Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Francis Collins requesting help to combat, “efforts to undermine important science using fetal tissue.” Additionally, the records included a scientific report containing information about grafting human scalp and other tissues onto mice.

In September 2021, Judicial Watch uncovered records from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) involving “humanized mice” research with human fetal heads, organs and tissue, including communications and contracts with human fetal tissue provider Advanced Bioscience Resources (ABR). Most of the records are communications and related attachments between Perrin Larton, a procurement manager for ABR, and research veterinary medical officer Dr. Kristina Howard of the Food and Drug Administration.

In April 2021, Judicial Watch obtained records from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) showing the agency spent tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to buy human fetal tissue from California-based Advanced Bioscience Resources (ABR). The tissue was used in creating “humanized mice” to test “biologic drug products.”

In March 2021, Judicial Watch sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on behalf of the Center for Medical Progress for grant applications related to the use of human fetal tissue (Center for Medical Progress v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (No. 1:21-cv-00642)).

In June 2020, Judicial Watch uncovered records showing the FDA between 2012 and 2018 entered into eight contracts worth $96,370 with Advanced Bioscience Resources (ABR) to acquire “fresh and never frozen” tissue from 1st and 2nd trimester aborted fetuses for use in creating “humanized mice” for ongoing research.

In February 2020, Judicial Watch received records from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) showing that the agency paid thousands of dollars to a California-based firm to purchase organs from aborted human fetuses to create “humanized mice” for HIV research.

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Source: https://www.judicialwatch.org/human-fetal-tissue-research/