NIH fires four institute directors and a deputy
The Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health have terminated the appointments of four NIH institute directors — Jeanne Marrazzo (NIAID), Diana Bianchi (NICHD), Eliseo Pérez‑Stable (NIMHD) and Shannon Zenk (NINR) — along with NIH deputy director Tara Schwetz. The officials had been placed on paid administrative leave around March 31 amid a mass HHS layoff and now received letters in the past few days informing them their appointments had expired or been terminated; Marrazzo has filed a whistleblower suit alleging political motives.
Health
Politics
🔍 Key Facts
- Jeanne Marrazzo (director, NIAID), Diana Bianchi (director, NICHD), Eliseo Pérez‑Stable (director, NIMHD), Shannon Zenk (director, NINR) and Tara Schwetz (NIH deputy) were informed by HHS/NIH this week that their appointments expired or were terminated.
- The five had been placed on paid administrative leave around March 31, the same week HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. laid off about 10,000 HHS/NIH employees.
- NIAID is NIH’s second‑largest institute with an annual budget of about $6.6 billion; some of the removed directors were tenured investigators and say they have lost lab positions and staff support.