In April 2025, four National Institutes of Health (NIH) institute directors were placed on administrative leave and subsequently forced out as part of a broad reduction in force, including leaders of the NIAID, NICHD, NIMHD, and NINR. In October 2025, the former Director of NIAID, Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, was fired by HHS Secretary Kennedy for filing a whistleblower complaint, alongside Kathleen Neuzil, head of the Fogarty International Center.
Background of the April 2025 firings:
- In March 2025, four NIH institute directors were put on administrative leave.
- These firings were part of a larger "reduction in force" that affected over 1,200 NIH employees, according to Nature.
- The affected directors were the leaders of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), and the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR).
- The directors were not initially given clear reasons for their removal, with one director expressing anger over the lack of transparency, notes Science | AAAS.
Details of the October 2025 firings:
- Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, former Director of NIAID, was fired on October 1, 2025.
- Kathleen Neuzil, who led the Fogarty International Center at the NIH, resigned after being put on leave in April 2025.
- Both Marrazzo and Neuzil filed whistleblower complaints related to the Trump administration's vaccine policies and the abrupt termination of grants, leading to their removals, according to The New York Times.
- HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is said to have ordered the firing of Dr. Marrazzo in retaliation for her whistleblower activity, notes Katz Banks Kumin LLP.
