{"id":11833,"date":"2026-03-06T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=11833"},"modified":"2026-03-06T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T10:00:00","slug":"the-people-and-research-lost-in-the-nih-exodus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=11833","title":{"rendered":"The People \u2014 And Research \u2014 Lost in the NIH Exodus"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018No Longer Based on Facts or Truth\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sylvia Chou<\/strong>, 51, Maryland<\/p>\n

Program director, National Cancer Institute<\/p>\n

Sylvia Chou specializes in communication between patients and their health care providers, and social media\u2019s role in public health. She joined the federal government in 2007 as a fellow and became a civil servant in 2010.<\/p>\n

She left her National Cancer Institute job in January, she said, because the \u201cwork is no longer based on facts or truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

After President Donald Trump returned to office, Chou said, health communication scientists like her were falsely accused of \u201cessentially doing propaganda work.\u201d The administration\u2019s \u201canti-DEI hysteria,\u201d she said, referring to diversity, equity, and inclusion, meant research funded by the National Institutes of Health was flagged and scrubbed of references to \u201cequity, vulnerable, underserved, poor, even communities of color, minorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the agency\u2019s climate in 2025 brought to mind her childhood in Taiwan, when the island was still ruled by an authoritarian regime.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could see the difference between a time when, you know, we have a choral competition and we have to sing the same songs to revere the leader of the country, to suddenly they say you can sing any song you want,\u201d Chou said. \u201cI came to this country in part because there was so much opportunity to think freely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see us going backwards,\u201d she added, \u201cit just made me feel like I have limited time on this earth and I cannot participate anymore inside the system.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018One Hurdle After Another\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Philip Stewart<\/strong>, 60, Montana<\/p>\n

Staff scientist, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases<\/p>\n

Philip Stewart\u2019s work was about understanding the pathogens ticks carry that make people and animals sick.<\/p>\n

That often started with walks through tall grass searching for the arachnids. He analyzed them back at Rocky Mountain Laboratories.<\/p>\n

When Trump entered office in 2025, Stewart experienced repeated disruptions to his work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been one hurdle after another. Just when you\u2019ve gotten over one and you think it\u2019s finally behind you, another hurdle pops up,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cI don\u2019t see that changing.\u201d<\/p>\n

NIH workers responsible for buying laboratory supplies were fired. As a result, Stewart said, he faced delays in getting the basics, including materials used to identify tick species.<\/p>\n

Travel bans in early 2025 threatened his fieldwork. When those bans lifted, Stewart said, for the first time in his career he needed a presidential appointee\u2019s approval to travel. Amid last year\u2019s government shutdown, Stewart missed his only opportunity in the year to collect ticks from deer at hunting stations \u2014 his best chance to see if deer ticks had become established in Montana.<\/p>\n

The review process for scientists to share their research became more burdensome.<\/p>\n

He said scientists have debated whether they should try to stay and work within the system, adding that, if everyone leaves, \u201cno cures get found.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I saw a way to stay on and be useful and perhaps to protest, then I think I would\u2019ve stayed,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t see any of those alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Losing a Lot of Expertise\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alexa Romberg<\/strong>, 48, Maryland<\/p>\n

Deputy branch chief, National Institute on Drug Abuse<\/p>\n

Alexa Romberg is a scientist who specializes in preventing the use of and addiction to tobacco, electronic cigarettes, and cannabis. The harms that stem from substance use or addiction don\u2019t affect all Americans equally, she said.<\/p>\n

Romberg left her \u201cdream job\u201d at the National Institute on Drug Abuse in December, she said, because Trump policies had compromised the research she helped oversee. Among other things, Romberg said, grants were terminated under an initiative she led to reduce health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities related to substance use. Pending applications were also pulled, she said, adding, \u201cI couldn\u2019t be effective from the inside in actively really preserving the science.\u201d<\/p>\n

Romberg said her work was undone even though it was consistent with \u201cwhat the NIH leadership is saying that they want.\u201d In August, NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya issued a statement<\/a> on priorities that included \u201csolution-oriented approaches in health disparities research.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the upheaval throughout 2025, she thought she would work at NIDA for the rest of her career.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re losing a lot of expertise,\u201d Romberg said. \u201cBoth scientific,\u201d she added, and \u201cinstitutional knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Research \u2018for the Benefit of Our Society\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marc Ernstoff<\/strong>, 73, Maryland and Vermont<\/p>\n

Branch chief, National Cancer Institute<\/p>\n

Marc Ernstoff spent most of his career in academia before joining the National Cancer Institute in 2020. He led a team of scientists who oversaw grants for research into how the immune system responds to cancer, with the goal of developing drugs that extend patients\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt that it was important for me to help define a national agenda in immuno-oncology and to give back to a country that I love by working as a civil servant,\u201d Ernstoff said.<\/p>\n

Under Trump, the NIH became a \u201chostile work environment.\u201d Projects with \u201cno weaknesses\u201d were denied funding. Ernstoff left because of those challenges and because he was denied permission to work remotely. He now has a part-time position at Dartmouth Health in New Hampshire.<\/p>\n

Leveraging a person\u2019s immune system to fight off cancer is \u201cjust the beginning of the story,\u201d Ernstoff said. Understanding how the immune system works \u2014 and the environmental and other factors that affect it \u2014 all \u201cgoes into developing better therapeutics for patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my opinion, the government has a responsibility to support this kind of research for the benefit of our society,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Eyeing Less Stress, Better Pay<\/strong><\/p>\n

Daniel Dulebohn<\/strong>, 45, Montana<\/p>\n

Staff scientist, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases<\/p>\n

At Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Daniel Dulebohn studied how molecules come together in infections and diseases. He helped agency researchers across the nation get insight needed for new discoveries and treatments.<\/p>\n

Dulebohn said he worked for the government because he knew his research wouldn\u2019t be steered by the pressure to make money. He had planned to stay indefinitely.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re trying to cure a disease or understand something fundamental about biology,\u201d Dulebohn said.<\/p>\n

But then his work began to feel insecure, especially as federal leaders characterized scientists<\/a> as inept, corrupt, and partisan.<\/p>\n

\u201cReading the news and hearing people discuss the validity of vaccines,\u201d he said, made him think, \u201cDo we need iron lungs again, or people in wheelchairs, to say, \u2018Huh, maybe vaccines are a good idea\u2019? I mean, I don\u2019t know; for me, it was just too much.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added federal researchers typically have other options for jobs with bigger paychecks.<\/p>\n

Dulebohn left his job in September. He\u2019s taking a year off to think about next options with his wife and their three young kids. Dulebohn said he\u2019s considering going into real estate full-time, which until recently was a weekend hobby.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot less stress,\u201d he said. \u201cPay is better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Susceptible to Political Decision-Making\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jennifer Troyer<\/strong>, 57, Maryland<\/p>\n

Division director, National Human Genome Research Institute<\/p>\n

Jennifer Troyer\u2019s work for the NIH most recently involved reviewing research and overseeing funding awarded to institutions for genomics research. Genomics studies all of a person\u2019s genes to better understand health and disease risk.<\/p>\n

She called it quits at the end of December, more than two decades after she arrived. She left for one reason, she said: \u201cThe way that the NIH is making the agreement to fund science is now susceptible to political decision-making in a way that it was not before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNIH is looking at not the value of the science but whether the science falls within particular political or socially-acceptable-to-this-administration constructs,\u201d she said. \u201cNot whether it\u2019s valuable for human health but whether it might offend somebody.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, she saw HHS move to cut off funds<\/a> to Harvard after alleging that it had shown \u201cdeliberate indifference\u201d to antisemitism on campus. Early-career investigators from minority backgrounds lost their research dollars because the money was awarded under programs to make the science workforce more diverse.<\/p>\n

The loss of staff means the NIH has \u201clost so much of that institutional knowledge and leadership, which is not something that is easy or can be learned overnight,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

USE OUR CONTENT<\/h3>\n

This story can be republished for free (details<\/a>).<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018No Longer Based on Facts or Truth\u2019 Sylvia Chou, 51, Maryland Program director, National Cancer Institute Sylvia Chou specializes in communication between patients and their health care providers, and social media\u2019s role in public health. She joined the federal government in 2007 as a fellow and became a civil servant in 2010. She left her…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":11834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11833"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}