US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has terminated Jeanne Marrazzo, a senior scientist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), just three weeks after she filed a whistleblower complaint against the Trump administration, alleging discrepancies in vaccine research."My termination, unfortunately, shows that the leaders of HHS and the National Institutes of Health do not share my commitment to scientific integrity and public health," Marrazzo wrote in a statement following her firing. "Congress must act to protect scientific research from those who would serve political interests first." Marrazzo was earlier demoted from her position as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in March. Marrazzo had been in her role since August 2023, succeeding D. Anthony Fauci, who had served as NIAID director for nearly four decades. Last month, she filed a complaint claiming her removal was in retaliation for protesting moves by the Trump administration that undermined vaccine research. She also alleged that officials had been flouting court orders and politicizing decisions over grant allocations. In a letter dated September 26, Kennedy informed Marrazzo of her dismissal. “In my capacity as secretary, I have decided to terminate your appointment as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease,” he wrote, without providing any explanation, as reported by New York Times. Marrazzo’s firing was a part of a long list of...
When examiners don’t get veterans’ records, bad decisions aren’t a mistake—they’re a systemic failure. In a blistering oversight hearing this week, members of Congress openly questioned whether th...