NIH Scientists Challenge Director Jay Bhattacharya’s Policies in Unprecedented Public Letter

Jay Bhattacharya’s commitment to scientific dissent is being put to the test just months into his tenure as director of the National Institutes of Health, as more than 90 agency scientists have publicly challenged his leadership in an unprecedented letter of protest.

The newly appointed NIH director, who pledged during his confirmation hearings that “dissent is the very essence of science,” now faces a frontal challenge from his own researchers over what they call policies that “undermine the NIH mission, waste public resources, and harm the health of Americans and people across the globe.”

The letter, titled the Bethesda Declaration after the NIH’s Maryland headquarters, was signed by 92 NIH researchers, program directors, branch chiefs and scientific review officers, with an additional 250 anonymous agency employees endorsing the document, according to The Guardian’s reporting.

The scientists’ protest centers on the abrupt termination of 2,100 research grants valued at more than $12 billion, which they say has created dangerous situations for patients and wasted taxpayer money. The Guardian reported that the cuts have forced researchers to halt clinical trials mid-course, leaving some patients without medication or with unmonitored medical device implants.

In one example cited by the scientists, an NIH-supported study of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis in Haiti had to be stopped, cutting off antibiotic treatment for patients mid-course. The researchers argue that terminating studies when they are 80% complete doesn’t save money but instead wastes the majority of funds already invested.

“Ending a $5 million research study when it is 80% complete does not save $1 million, it wastes $4 million,” the letter states, as reported by The Guardian.

Bhattacharya’s Own Dissent Echoed Back

The scientists deliberately modeled their protest after Bhattacharya’s own Great Barrington Declaration from October 2020, when he was a Stanford University Medical School professor. That declaration challenged what Bhattacharya and co-signers saw as excessive COVID-19 lockdown policies.

“I want people to know how bad things are at NIH,” Norton told the Associated Press. She acknowledged the personal risk, saying she was “so scared about doing this, but I am trying to be brave for my kids because it’s only going to get harder to speak up.”

“He is proud of his statement, and we are proud of ours,” Sarah Kobrin, a branch chief at the NIH’s National Cancer Institute who signed the Bethesda Declaration, told The Guardian.

Bhattacharya had previously emphasized his commitment to academic freedom, stating in April that “NIH scientists can be certain they are afforded the ability to engage in open, academic discourse as part of their official duties and in their personal capacities without risk of official interference, professional disadvantage or workplace retaliation.”

Fear and Career Risks

The public nature of the protest represents a significant risk for the career scientists involved. Jenna Norton, who oversees health disparity research at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and was a lead organizer of the declaration, previously appeared at a public forum wearing a mask to conceal her identity when discussing NIH problems.

“I want people to know how bad things are at NIH,” Norton told the Associated Press. She acknowledged the personal risk, saying she was “so scared about doing this, but I am trying to be brave for my kids because it’s only going to get harder to speak up.”

The scientists say they are operating under a “culture of fear and suppression” that has spread through the federal civil service under the Trump administration.

Broader Administrative Changes

The research cuts are part of broader changes under the Trump administration aimed at eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs throughout the federal bureaucracy and reducing funding to some universities. The Guardian reported that this has resulted in “indiscriminate grant terminations, payment freezes for ongoing research, and blanket holds on awards regardless of the quality, progress, or impact of the science.”

The four-page letter was addressed not only to Bhattacharya but also to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and members of Congress who oversee the NIH. Employees from all 27 NIH institutes and centers supported the declaration, with most signers involved in evaluating and overseeing external research grants.

The unprecedented public challenge to Bhattacharya’s leadership will test whether his stated commitment to academic freedom and scientific dissent extends to criticism of his own policies and administration of the world’s premier public health research institution.

(Top image, Jay Bhattacharya at his Senate confirmation hearing on March 5, 2025 Senate HELP Committee.)