Karmactive Staff
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), approximately three weeks after she filed a whistleblower complaint. The termination came via letter on September 26, in which Kennedy cited his constitutional authority but provided no specific cause for her dismissal.
Marrazzo, who succeeded Dr. Anthony Fauci as NIAID director in August 2023, had been placed on administrative leave in March 2025 before filing her whistleblower complaint with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel in early September. Her complaint alleged that Trump administration officials had endangered research subjects, defied court orders, and undermined 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 said in a statement following her firing. She urged Congress to “protect scientific research from those who would serve political interests first.”
The whistleblower complaint specifically cited concerns about Dr. Matthew Memoli, who served as acting NIH director earlier this year before becoming the agency’s number two official.
According to Marrazzo, Memoli made statements in meetings downplaying vaccines, arguing they were “unnecessary if populations are healthy” and that NIH “should not focus on vaccines.” Marrazzo told CBS News these comments echoed vaccine skepticism promoted by Kennedy, calling the situation “extremely alarming.”
Similar Posts
An HHS spokesperson defended Memoli, stating he “remains fully aligned with this administration’s vaccine priorities and consistently champions gold-standard evidence-based science.”
In a CBS News interview before her firing, Marrazzo described the period as “one of the hardest periods of my career,” saying she and her colleagues “felt like we were sort of a voice in the wilderness.” She specifically mentioned disputes about the importance of childhood flu vaccines and noted that she had advocated for a universal flu vaccine covering both seasonal and avian flu.
Marrazzo wasn’t the only NIH institute director dismissed. Three others were fired on the same day: Dr. Eliseo Pérez-Stable (National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities), Dr. Diana Bianchi (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development), and Shannon Zenk (National Institute of Nursing Research). These scientists also had NIH research labs, putting the future of their studies in question.
The firings represent part of a broader pattern affecting scientific leadership at federal health agencies. In June, Kennedy removed all 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine practices advisory committee and appointed new members. This reconstituted panel subsequently voted to split the measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella vaccinations into separate shots for children under four.
Before her firing, Marrazzo had been informed in March 2025 that she would be transferred to the Indian Health Service, a move her attorney characterized as a “retaliatory transfer” that never materialized.
Debra S. Katz, Marrazzo’s attorney, called the firing clear retaliation for “protected whistleblower activity.” However, recourse may be limited as President Trump fired the head of the independent Office of Special Counsel in February and installed his trade official Jamieson Greer as acting director.
The dismissals add to a growing list of government whistleblowers who have faced consequences after speaking up. Earlier reports noted that two civil rights lawyers at the Department of Housing and Urban Development were removed after speaking out about limitations to Fair Housing Act enforcement, and Charles Borges, the Social Security Administration’s former chief data officer, faced an “involuntary resignation” after filing a whistleblower complaint.
