Two former National Institutes of Health leaders are alleging the agency illegally put them on leave in April for speaking up against research grant cancellations and antivaccine efforts.
Jeanne Marrazzo, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Kathleen Neuzil, former director of the NIH’s Fogarty International Center and former associate director for international research, filed complaints Thursday with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, seeking reinstatement. They allege they faced retaliation for whistleblowing and other protected activity.
Marrazzo “objected to the Administration’s hostility towards vaccines and its abrupt cancellation of grants and clinical trials for political reasons,” according to her complaint. Neuzil further objected to the administration’s “cancellation of grants based on anti–South Africa hostility and its incorrect belief that certain grants advanced ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion,’” her complaint stated.
They both specifically allege that Matthew Memoli—who was NIH’s acting director after Trump returned to power and is now NIH’s principal deputy director—retaliated against them. An NIH spokesperson said in an email Friday that Memoli emphasizes that each vaccine “must be assessed on its own merits.”
The spokesperson also wrote that “assertions that reprioritization, reallocation, or cancellation of certain grants are ‘anti-science’ misrepresent NIH’s progress and often echo the grievances of former staff.”
Debra S. Katz, an attorney representing the complainants, said in a news release that the “Trump administration installed politically motivated leaders—most notably Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr., who immediately acted to stifle scientific inquiry, halt crucial research and retaliate against those, like Drs. Marrazzo and Neuzil, who refused to disavow the overwhelming body of evidence showing that vaccines are safe and effective.”
But Katz said the Office of Special Counsel, which is their only route for legal relief, “has been politically compromised to such an extent that it will most certainly refuse to act against Trump appointees.”
