The former director of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is suing Trump administration officials over her September firing, which she alleges violated her rights and was illegal under federal whistleblower protections.
The lawsuit (PDF) from Jeanne Marrazzo, M.D., names the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its leader, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as well as the NIH and its director, Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., and Principal Deputy Director Matthew Memoli, M.D., as defendants. The case was filed in a Maryland district court on Dec. 16.
When reached by Fierce Biotech, agency spokesperson Sarah Marshall said, "NIH does not discuss ongoing litigation."
Marrazzo is claiming that her firing violated her due process rights under the Fifth Amendment and the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, the Administrative Procedure Act, and her freedom of speech under the First Amendment and the Whistleblower Protection Act.
“This lawsuit is about protecting not just my right to expose abuse and fraud by our government, but those rights for all federal employees, so we can safeguard essential public health priorities and the integrity of scientific research,” Marrazzo said in a Dec. 16 release from her lawyers.
The former health leader, who took over the NIAID from Anthony Fauci, M.D., in August 2023, is seeking her job back, plus back pay, monetary relief and a declaration from the court that the actions of RFK Jr. and the other defendants violated her rights.
Marrazzo and Kathleen Neuzil, M.D., former director of the NIH’s Fogarty International Center, each filed complaints with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel on Sept. 4 alleging that they were retaliated against for expressing concerns about the potential public health consequences of agency actions, like canceling grant funding and opposing vaccines.
Marrazzo had been on leave since Apr. 1, awaiting a reassignment to the Indian Health Service that never came. In the lawsuit, Marrazzo called this a “blatantly retaliatory act” that resulted in her losing access to NIH equipment and facilities. During this time, she only heard from the HHS once, when it requested an updated resume from her, the lawsuit says.
Sept. 26, 22 days after filing her retaliation complaint, Marrazzo was fired by RFK Jr.
“We are filing suit in federal court today to seek justice for Dr. Marrazzo and hold the Trump Administration accountable for illegally putting politics and its anti-vaccine agenda over public health and safety,” Marrazzo’s lawyers wrote in the release.
Much of Marrazzo’s new suit centers on Memoli, who was promoted to acting NIH director Jan. 22 before Bhattacharya took over Apr. 1. In the lawsuit, Marrazzo says she and colleagues “were surprised and concerned” by Memoli’s promotion, given he had previously managed “only a small subsection of an intramural laboratory” within NIAID and didn’t have experience “commensurate with any prior acting or permanent NIH director.”
In her whistleblower complaint (PDF), Marrazzo detailed several instances where she raised concerns about cuts to research funding and anti-vaccine sentiment among the agency’s new leaders, especially Memoli.
During meetings on Feb. 20 and Feb. 24, Memoli expressed support for the administration’s inaccurate view that vaccines are not necessary if a population is already healthy, according to the complaint. When challenged by Marrazzo and former Fogarty International Center leader Neuzil, he allegedly grew annoyed and unresponsive, reiterating that, “NIH should not focus on vaccines.”
According to the lawsuit, in a Feb. 13 meeting, Memoli emphasized the importance of fulfilling President Donald Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders, without once mentioning “public health, patient safety or furthering scientific research.”
Memoli and Jeffery Taubenberger, M.D., Ph.D., who is now the NIAID’s acting director, received $500 million in funding from the NIH and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for a universal flu vaccine research program on May 1, which Marrazzo alleges was given “solely at the direction of Secretary Kennedy.”
Taubenberger, she noted, holds a patent for the vaccine platform that the funding centers on, and “could reap a substantial financial benefit from this massive grant.”
Memoli and Taubenberger’s award came just a few months before the HHS scrapped $500 million in BARDA funding for mRNA vaccine research.