How do we know this? Well… as of the moment of this post, the "transparent" NIH Project Reporter site where one can examine and track the litany of NIH grant awardees is down.
Ouch.
Moreover, the NIH is starting to push back. At first, the loony Left predictably started defending the penis-measurement grants as beneficial to gay men's health.
The best part comes from the flailing NIH itself as it defends its peculiar interests in the male anatomy:
"The National Institutes of Health did not fund or approve the research described in the paper," the NIH said. "This study was funded by the Hunter College Center for HIV/AIDS Educational Studies and Training. Dr. Christian Grov was supported as a postdoctoral research fellow at the time the research was conducted by a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded training grant, which focuses on preparing behavioral scientists, especially racial/ethnic minorities, to conduct research in the areas of drug abuse, HIV/AIDS, and crime. These funds can only be used to support expenses like stipends, tuition and fees. These funds cannot be used to support research projects."
Make sense to you? Didn't think so.
Meanwhile, it would appear that NIH is doing some internal housecleaning. All the more reason for Congress to implement a six-month moratorium, as well as investigate both the NIH grant process and some of the online irregularities that seem to be following it.
UPDATE: Ahh... the National Institutes of Health. The gift that keeps on giving:
Really? After getting slammed by the international media for funding studies about "penis measurements" and then taking down the website containing all the other bizarre studies NIH has funded... you say your website has performance issues?
Wow, fellas. The more PhD you have, the less common sense. Aphorism proven true...
UPDATE x2: ...and just who is Dr. Christian Grov, referred to in The Hill and cited by NIH in their defense of the penis measurement grant? The one "supported as a postdoctoral research fellow at the time the research was conducted by a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded training grant" by the NIH?
Dr. Grov is the guy with the fabulous green hair... second from the left.
From left to right: Anthony Bamonte (aka Helen of Trojan), Dr. Christian Grov (aka Maggie Num), Dr. Jeffrey Parsons (aka Loofa Styles) & Dr. David Bimbi (aka Daisy Durex)
Check out page 16 of this very NSFW 2007 conference brochure where Dr. Grov and Dr. Parsons entertained the attendees. The backup PDF can be found here, just in case The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality experiences any NIH-style database problems.
Good job, NIH. Way to dig that hole a little bit deeper.
