diff --git a/portal/src/app/components/protocol-query/ProtocolQuery.tsx b/portal/src/app/components/protocol-query/ProtocolQuery.tsx
index 6365459b..2e576bad 100644
--- a/portal/src/app/components/protocol-query/ProtocolQuery.tsx
+++ b/portal/src/app/components/protocol-query/ProtocolQuery.tsx
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ export const ProtocolQuery: React.FC<ProtocolQueryProps> = (props: ProtocolQuery
                 value={experimentName}
                 onChange={onExperimentNameChanged}
                 placeholder=''
+                disabled={isFetching}
                 required
               />
           </div>
@@ -123,6 +124,7 @@ export const ProtocolQuery: React.FC<ProtocolQueryProps> = (props: ProtocolQuery
                 isMulti
                 hideSelectedOptions={false}
                 closeMenuOnSelect={false}
+                disabled={isFetching}
                 required
                 customComponent={{ Option: AlgorithmsSelectorCustomOption as React.FC }}
               />
@@ -142,6 +144,7 @@ export const ProtocolQuery: React.FC<ProtocolQueryProps> = (props: ProtocolQuery
                 closeMenuOnSelect={false}
                 menuIsOpen={iterationsMenuIsOpen}
                 setMenuIsOpen={setIterationsMenuIsOpen}
+                disabled={isFetching}
                 required
                 customComponent={{
                   Option: (props: any) =>
@@ -171,6 +174,7 @@ export const ProtocolQuery: React.FC<ProtocolQueryProps> = (props: ProtocolQuery
                 closeMenuOnSelect={false}
                 menuIsOpen={messageSizeMenuIsOpen}
                 setMenuIsOpen={setMessageSizeMenuIsOpen}
+                disabled={isFetching}
                 required
                 customComponent={{
                   Option: (props: any) =>
@@ -194,6 +198,7 @@ export const ProtocolQuery: React.FC<ProtocolQueryProps> = (props: ProtocolQuery
                 className={styles.form_item_text_area}
                 onChange={onDescriptionChanged}
                 placeholder=''
+                disabled={isFetching}
               />
           </div>
           <div className={styles.submitButtonWrapper}>
diff --git a/portal/src/app/components/sub-header/SubHeader.tsx b/portal/src/app/components/sub-header/SubHeader.tsx
index ff4ae731..12fd1bd4 100644
--- a/portal/src/app/components/sub-header/SubHeader.tsx
+++ b/portal/src/app/components/sub-header/SubHeader.tsx
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ export interface SubHeaderProps {
     handleCloseClick: () => void;
 }
 export const SubHeader: React.FC<SubHeaderProps> = (props: SubHeaderProps) => {
-  const [open, setOpen] = useState<boolean>(true);
+  const [open, setOpen] = useState<boolean>(false);
 
   const handleToggleClick: () => void = useCallback((): void => {
     setOpen((prev: boolean) => !prev);