Do Son 
The United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) has restricted access to several scientific databases for researchers in eight countries, including Russia and China. As of April 4, access has been prohibited for institutions in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Russia. The restrictions apply specifically to Controlled-Access Data Repositories (CADR), which house sensitive information related to cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, mental health, adolescent development, and other medical research areas.
According to an official NIH notice published on April 4, 2025, the agency is “prohibiting access to controlled-access data repositories and associated data for organizations located in countries of concern.” These countries are named as China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela. The directive was issued “in accordance with Executive Order No. 14117 and regulation 28 CFR Part 202,” aimed at preventing foreign access to U.S. sensitive personal and governmental data. All ongoing international projects involving CADR and the aforementioned countries have also been terminated, as confirmed by an NIH representative in a statement to Fierce Biotech.
Among the affected databases is the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program, a flagship resource of the National Cancer Institute. SEER provides comprehensive cancer incidence data across the U.S. Chinese sources report that, as of April 4, researchers in China have been locked out of SEER, a database previously used to publish more than 1,500 academic papers—459 of them in 2019 alone.
These restrictions stem from an executive order signed by former President Joe Biden in February 2024, designed to prevent large-scale leaks of U.S. medical and genomic data. However, the final version of the order, published by the Department of Justice in January, specifies that the policy applies to the commercial transfer of such data—whether through payment or other compensation—and does not explicitly mention CADR.
Neither the White House nor the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees NIH, have commented on the discrepancies between earlier guidelines and the newly enacted rules. The NCI, which manages SEER, has also declined to issue a statement.
Experts warn that the impact of these new restrictions could be profound. Bhaven Sampat, an economist at Arizona State University, emphasized that science is a cumulative endeavor, and its advancement relies heavily on the open exchange of data. Cutting off access to such resources could impede both foundational research and future medical innovations.
This is not the first time Russian researchers have been disconnected from international scientific databases. In 2022, access to the Human Gene Mutation Database (HGMD)—widely used in oncology and genetic research—was revoked. According to Dr. Sergey Tkachev, a physician-researcher and head of the Medach.Pro project, NIH databases became a “last resort” following the HGMD ban, particularly for cancer research. Modern biomedical studies often rely on integrated analyses of the genome, transcriptome, and proteome—critical for developing targeted therapies. Losing access to these datasets increases research costs and impedes workflow, heightening dependence on foreign solutions and furthering technological lag that could impact public health. CADRs also provided valuable insights into the socio-genetic characteristics of the U.S. population and enabled the study of disease prevalence patterns.
Still, Sergey Kharitonov, a molecular biologist at Moscow State University, notes that the open-access PubMed database—also maintained by NIH—remains a primary tool for many Russian scientists. He believes VPN usage may preserve some access to restricted data. Tkachev adds that he hopes Russian institutions have already localized critical datasets and established alternative repositories for continued research.
