As President Donald Trump directs cuts of tens of 1000’s of federal authorities workers, amongst these laid off at America’s well being businesses are staff at a Nationwide Institutes of Well being division centered on dementia analysis, together with its incoming chief, three individuals acquainted with the terminations instructed ABC Information.
The firings on the Middle for Alzheimer’s and Associated Dementias (CARD) affected roughly a tenth of the almost 100 workers on the middle, however in interviews with ABC Information, staff there described a rigorously woven internet of collaboration that they are saying may very well be threatened by the layoffs of only a handful of workers, warning that it may jeopardize progress in answering key questions on dementia.
Most surprising to CARD staff was the termination of lead researcher Kendall Van Keuren-Jensen, who was introduced internally because the group’s subsequent performing director and was anticipated to deliver important developments to the analysis discipline.
“It is simply jaw-dropping,” an upper-level CARD worker instructed ABC Information of Van Keuren-Jensen’s firing.
ABC Information reached out to Van Keuren-Jensen, who declined to remark.
On this Sept. 12, 2020, file photograph, the primary historic constructing (Constructing 1) of the Nationwide Institutes of Well being (NIH) is proven on the grounds of the NIH campus in Bethesda, Md.
Getty Photographs, FILE
The layoffs at CARD had been first reported by the New Republic.
Neurologists say the downsizing at CARD may very well be a blow to the scientific quest for brand spanking new Alzheimer’s remedies. NIH scientists at CARD work with exterior scientists to show early scientific discoveries into remedies and medicines.
The middle additionally had important bipartisan assist. It was named after Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican who’s been a champion for dementia analysis funding.
Almost 7 million individuals in the US live with Alzheimer’s illness, in response to the Alzheimer’s Affiliation. There isn’t any treatment, and present remedies solely assist relieve signs or decelerate illness development.
One laid-off CARD employee instructed ABC Information {that a} termination letter, obtained on Feb. 15 from an NIH human sources official, cited the employee’s efficiency, though the employee instructed ABC Information that their managers had assured them their efficiency was not a difficulty.
Medical researchers from varied universities and the Nationwide Institutes of Well being rally at Well being and Human Companies headquarters to protest federal price range cuts, Feb. 19, 2025, in Washington.
John Mcdonnell/AP
One other CARD worker dismissed the concept the layoffs had been associated to efficiency.
“[One colleague] just lately revealed a first-author paper in a excessive influence journal and so they had been terminated for poor efficiency, and I mentioned, are you kidding me?” they instructed ABC Information.
The outgoing director, Andrew Singleton, instructed colleagues in an e mail that the layoffs would “have a profound influence on the work we do to grasp and deal with illness,” in response to one CARD worker.
Singleton didn’t reply to a request for remark from ABC Information.
A spokesperson from the Division of Well being and Human Companies didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Karoline Leavitt, the White Home press secretary, mentioned in regards to the layoffs throughout federal businesses, “There must be no secret about the truth that this administration is dedicated to chopping waste, fraud and abuse. The president campaigned on that course of campaigned on that promise. Individuals elected him on that promise, and he is really delivering on it. And that is one thing that Democrats promised they’d do for many years. President Trump is simply the primary president to get it performed.”
Newly confirmed Well being and Human Companies Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. advocated huge shakeups on the division, particularly laying out plans on the marketing campaign path to chop lots of from the NIH, which he mentioned ought to shift its focus away from infectious illnesses towards persistent illnesses.
“We have to act quick, and we need to have these individuals in place on Jan. 20 in order that on Jan. 21, 600 persons are going to stroll into places of work at NIH and 600 persons are going to go away,” Kennedy mentioned in November, talking on the Genius Community Annual Occasion in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Well being and Human Companies, testifies throughout his Senate Finance Committee, Jan. 29, 2025.
Win McNamee/Getty Photographs
The firings on the Alzheimer’s analysis middle comes amid a flurry of different modifications to the federal government’s well being businesses, together with round 700 terminations on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention and not less than 90 extra on the Meals and Drug Administration of people that labored on vitamin, meals security and regulating toddler components, in response to a number of officers on the businesses. There have additionally been cuts to different components of HHS, together with the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.
Almost all of the staffers manning vaccines.gov, the web site that helps individuals discover vaccines of their space, had been let go as properly, an official who oversees the location mentioned.
One senior Trump administration official instructed Fox Information Digital the HHS “departures” had been estimated to be 6,000 individuals, whereas different shops have estimated 3,600 had been reduce. When requested by ABC Information in regards to the quantity, HHS would not affirm the main points.
Moreover, a media marketing campaign encouraging individuals to get their flu photographs was faraway from CDC’s web site.
