STAT+: NIH is removing some outside scientific advisers who evaluate agency research
Prominent outside scientists who help the NIH evaluate its internal research programs are being abruptly removed
Prominent outside scientists who help the National Institutes of Health evaluate its internal research programs are being abruptly removed, according to five advisers whose positions were terminated and a recording of an internal meeting obtained by STAT.
The motivations behind the removals from the agency’s boards of scientific counselors remain unclear. But among those being terminated are non-U.S. citizens, women, scientists from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, and individuals whose research focus or other work touches on areas the new administration considers taboo, such as diversity and equity.
The advisers being pushed out, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, told STAT they were not given a reason. A branch chief at the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences told staff last week that “nobody knows why” people were removed and “nobody knows who did it,” according to the recording.
