Two former top officials with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have filed whistleblower complaints, claiming they were removed from leadership positions over their objections to agency leadership's hostility toward vaccines, politicization of scientific research, and suspension of funding for clinical trials and foreign research.
The complaints, first reported by the New York Times, were filed by Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH, former director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Kathleen Neuzil, MD, MPH, former director of NIH's Fogarty International Center. Marrazzo and Neuzil were both removed from their positions and placed on involuntarily administrative leave in the spring.
Downplaying vaccines, high-priority diseases
The complaints detail a series of meetings between Marrazzo, Neuzil, and Matthew Memoli, MD, who was named acting NIH director in January and is now principal deputy director of the agency under Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, in which Memoli dismissed the importance of flu vaccines amid a record year for pediatric flu deaths and stated a belief that vaccines aren't necessary if children are healthy. Both Marrazzo and Neuzil voiced their objections to those positions.
"Dr. Memoli refused to make eye contact with either Drs. Marrazzo or Neuzil and dismissed their contributions," Marrazo's complaint states. "He repeated that there is nothing more important than making sure children are healthy to begin with and made clear that NIH should not focus on vaccines."
In other meetings, Memoli and other NIH officials appointed by the Trump administration rejected Marrazzo and Neuzil's concerns about White House-directed suspension of funding for some ongoing clinical trials and defended plans to cut funding for foreign research and align future NIH funding with Trump administration priorities. One of Neuzil's specific concerns was the cessation of NIH funding for research projects in South Africa, where the agency has funded critical research into "high priority" diseases like HIV and tuberculosis.
"In short, the cessation of funds from NIH to South Africa has severely impeded important research and undermined the development of new life-saving medical interventions," Neuzil's complaint reads.
The complaints argue that both Marrazzo and Neuzil have experienced illegal retaliation and that they are entitled to reinstatement.
$2 billion in cuts to research
Since February, NIH has fired more than 1,000 employees and cut an estimated $2 billion in research grants related to foreign research, COVID-19, and projects the Trump administration believes are linked to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts. While those cuts face legal challenges, the Supreme Court in August ruled that they can go forward while court battles play out.
The whistleblower complaints come amid growing objections to the direction of the NIH and other departments that are overseen by Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who yesterday received a barrage of criticism from members of the Senate Finance Committee over his efforts to undermine vaccine policy and his firing of Susan Monarez, PhD, who until last week was director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, another HHS agency.
Earlier this week, more than 1,000 current and former HHS staff released a letter calling for Kennedy to resign. A coalition of public health and medical organizations led by the Infectious Diseases Society of America also called for Kennedy's resignation.
"We are gravely concerned that American people will needlessly suffer and die as a result of policies that turn away from sound interventions," the groups said in the statement. "After careful consideration, we insist on Kennedy's resignation to restore the integrity, credibility and science-driven mission of HHS and all its agencies."
