Trump does the next generation of scientists and managers for public health

The communications came all over the weekend and ended up in the inbox of federal scientists, doctors and specialists for public relatives: their work is no longer required.

At the National Institutes of Health, the leading biomedical research agency of the country was dismissed by 1,200 employees – including promising young investigators, which are intended for larger roles.

In the centers for the control and prevention of diseases, two prestigious training programs were disappointed: one that embedded the recent public health graduates in local health departments, and another to promote the next generation of doctoral students. Laboratory scientist. But the agency's epidemic intelligence agency – the “disease detectives”, which are pursuing outbreaks around the world – was apparently spared, perhaps because of a turmoil under alumni, after a large part of its members were announced on Friday that they would be released.

President Trump's plan to reduce the size of the Federal Work Force in the past few days of thousands of officials. But the cuts to the Ministry of Health and Human Services, which on Coronavirus pandemic, the worst crisis of public health in a century, have been particularly frightening. Experts say that the shots are threatening to leave the country to further lack of healthcare staff and endanger the Americans if another crisis breaks out.

For example, civil servants of the public healthcare system pursue a fatal bird flu, of which they say they still have a low risk to the Americans. In the past few weeks, however, it has called for his first victim in the United States – a patient in Louisiana who was exposed to a back yard.

“It has not been canceled,” wrote Elon Musk, the billionaire who is responsible for downsizing, on social media in response to the setback on the alleged disassembly of the epidemic intelligence service.

The shots also cut out the next generation of managers of the CDC, NIH, the Food and Drug Administration and other agencies that monitors the department.

“It seems to be a very destructive strategy to relieve the new talent of an agency and the talent that is promoted,” said Dr. David Fleming, chairman of a consulting committee of the CDC director. He added: “A lot of energy and time was spent to recruit these people, and that is now being thrown out of the window.”

In the emails from form more, she informed the recipients that they were “not suitable for continued employment” because their “skills, knowledge and skills were not the needs of the agency” and their “performance was not appropriate”.

On Monday, eight civil servants, the health authorities under President Joseph R. Biden Jr. – including the head of the CDC, the NIH and the FDA, gave a joint explanation that denounced the cuts. It listed a number of initiatives, from fighting opioid epidemic to basic care in rural communities that are “crucial for the economic security of our nation” and are carried out by civil servants.

“These people are not numbers in a table,” they wrote, adding, “we owe them a guilt of gratitude, no pink slip.”

The layoffs also have doctoral students who observe career in public health and biomedical sciences.

“I just kept 42 doctoral students whose entire future is not clear at this time,” said Dr. Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases and Politics at the University of Minnesota. “Will you have jobs? Will there be employment in the area of ​​public health in the future? “

A spokesman for the Health and Human Services Department said that he pursued the administrative instructions and “measures to support the broader efforts of the President to restructure and rationalize the Federal Government”.

“This is intended to ensure that HHS serves the American people better on the highest and most efficient standard,” said spokesman Andrew Nixon on Friday in an e -mail.

As with the rest of the government, the cuts are aimed at probation workers with less than a year in the workplace. But the cuts come as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the prominent vaccine skeptic and newly confirmed health secretary, begins in his work. NIH officials are particularly concerned that he could address more high -ranking employees by asking for their resignation.

Mr. Kennedy has repeatedly said that he intends to clean the house in various federal authorities. He warned that he would shorten 600 jobs in the health institutes. After he merged his presidential campaign with that of Mr. Trump in October, he instructed FDA officers to “preserve their documents” and “pack their bags”.

About 700 employees were cut at the FDA, including lawyers, doctors and reviewers on doctoral students from the departments for medical equipment, tobacco, food and drugs.

The cuts over the weekend have touched all types of health employees. They are not only scientists and disease hunters, but also administrators who monitor grant proposals, analysts who find out new opportunities to reduce health costs and computer specialists who try to improve the outdated systems of the government to pursue health information.

Arielle Kane was hired in May with the work on a new project that aimed to improve the health of the mother in Medicaid. On Friday, a manager assured her that her work at the centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was safe. On Saturday afternoon she received an e -mail that had been released because of poor performance.

“I was just so excited to work on the health of mothers and at Medicaid,” said Ms. Kane. “It feels particularly angry to have finally got the job that I wanted to have only a good performance review and then be fired for poor performance.”

The Leadership Service laboratory, a prestigious training scholarship at the CDC, was hit hard according to three people familiar with the program. Four of its 24 scholarship holders were protected because they are commissioned by the US public healthcare system, a uniform branch whose members work throughout the government. The other 20 were released.

The program, which started in 2015, in response to quality and security concerns in laboratories, is a sister program for the more prominent epidemic intelligence service or ice to strengthen relationships between epidemiologists and laboratory scientists. Applicants must have a Ph.D. In microbiology, organic chemistry or another laboratory discipline.

Some of the scholarship holders are assigned to the state and local laboratories for public health. Others work at CDC in Atlanta. In the event of outbursts such as the Coronavirus pandemic, they are sent into the field with ice officers.

“Ice has such a strong culture and alumni; The answer will be: “Thank God it was spared,” said Dr. Michael Iademarco, who helped the CDC to create the laboratory management service and will be my answer, but we have just killed the promising half of the field examination because nobody knows about it. '”

The agency has also lost its fellows for presidential management, which the CDC were assigned to under a decades of government initiative, which describes itself as “the leading managers for advanced degree owners in all academic disciplines”.

Veterans of the health authorities said they were worried about the apparently random nature of the cuts.

“If it is necessary to reduce the budget, this happens at all government levels, but there should be a thoughtful approach” roll, there is very specialized knowledge. “

Dr. Fleming, a former deputy CDC director, said that many members of the health professions in the private sector can earn more, but can join the government because they are attracted to the public service. The dismissals would make it more difficult to attract new talents, he said.

“We cut off our hand to influence our face,” he said.

Christina Jewett, Roni Caryn Rabin and Sarah Kliff have contributed to the reporting.