[FoxNews] The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has funneled at least $2.7 million into a University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) project that utilizes a tissue bank with organs from aborted fetuses, according to a release from Judicial Watch Tuesday.The conservative nonprofit obtained hundreds of pages of public records requests, which detail Pitt's interest in harvesting fetal organs for a project known as the GenitoUrinary Development Molecular Anatomy Project, or GUDMAP. More money was requested by the university but it's unclear exactly how much it received.
Pitt's application specified that it sought to "develop a pipeline to the acquisition, quality control and distribution of human genitourinary [urinary and genital organs and functions] samples obtained throughout development (6-42 weeks gestation)." Forty-two weeks represents more than 10 months of pregnancy.
In 2015, Pitt told HHS that it has been "collecting fetal tissue for over 10 years … includ[ing] liver, heart, gonads, legs, brain, genitourinary tissues including kidneys, ureters and bladders."
It also revealed that the university sought a large number of minority fetuses, according to Judicial Watch — something Center for Medical Progress founder David Daleiden described as "racist."
The university told Fox News that the higher number of minorities resulted from an emphasis on those populations most impacted by kidney disease. "Projects funded by the National Institutes of Health must ensure appropriate inclusion of women and minorities," said David Seldin, assistant vice chancellor for news.
"They should also ensure distribution of the study reflects the population needed to accomplish the scientific goals of the study. Asked another way: Does the makeup of the study reflect the populations affected by the illness in question? In the case of the GUDMAP Tissue Hub, one of the goals is to support researchers looking for treatments and cures for kidney disease."
In a PureFlix interview last year, former university employee Lori Kelly discussed a federally funded project with researchers seeking to collect bladders and kidneys from babies as late as 24 weeks into pregnancy. Kelly said that as project manager, she worked to develop "a pull-down menu of baby body parts for researchers to choose from to submit to the tissue bank, so that we could send the body parts to them."
"And these researchers were all across the United States," she said, "from Florida to California." When asked, the University of Pittsburgh did not respond to Kelly's allegations earlier this year.
Both the university and its medical center have denied any wrongdoing.
Tuesday's revelation adds mounting scrutiny to a school that has already received attention for its use of fetal tissue.
"The University of Pittsburgh complies with rigorous regulatory and ethical oversight of fetal tissue research," Paul Supowitz, the university's vice chancellor, previously told lawmakers. "The researchers in this matter followed all applicable federal and state guidelines and regulations (with Pennsylvania having one of the most restrictive set of requirements in the nation), as well as strict protocols approved by the University. The University’s Institutional Review Board approved the acquisition of stem cells."
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has also maintained that it complies with federal law. It previously told Fox News: "NIH is committed to ensuring that research involving human fetal tissue is conducted responsibly and meets the
Earlier this year, Pennsylvania's state legislature held a hearing in which members discussed an experiment involving grafting fetal scalps, containing "full-thickness human skin," onto rodents.
That particular project utilized tissue from the university's human tissue bank. It was also supported by grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is led by top coronavirus adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci. While it's unclear exactly how much federal money was spent on that project, it was funded through two large grants — one $1,498,642 and one $430,270.
