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NIH Director's COVID Comments Spark Staff Walkout

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on May 27, 2025.

By I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, May 27, 2025 — Dozens of staff at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) walked out of a recent town hall meeting after Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya suggested the agency may have helped fund research that caused the COVID-19 pandemic.

The protest happened roughly 27 minutes into the meeting, held at NIH headquarters in Bethesda, Md.

In a video obtained by CNN, Bhattacharya is shown telling staff that, based on his review of scientific evidence and public opinion polling, he believed COVID may have started due to research funded, in part, by the NIH.

"It’s possible that the pandemic was caused by research conducted by human beings," Bhattacharya said. "And it’s also possible that the NIH partly sponsored that research. And if that’s true — ”

At that point, dozens of NIH employees walked out. Bhattacharya called the walkout "silent dissent" and continued on with the meeting.

Many of the protestors, according to CNN, were postdoctoral researchers and members of the NIH union.

They said the walkout was planned, though the timing was moved up after Bhattacharya's controversial comments.

"We were trying to use this walkout as a way to get a sit-down meeting with Dr. Bhattacharya," Matt Manion, a postdoctoral researcher, said.

He and others described worsening work conditions under the Trump administration.

Staff said their research has been disrupted by reductions in purchasing staff, the firing and rehiring of colleagues and the specter of a 40% cut to the NIH budget.

Kaitlyn Hajdarovic, another researcher, told CNN union members had been trying to meet with Bhattacharya to discuss issues "that prevented us from doing our jobs and research."

Further, some staff were also upset about a new policy that bars grant recipients from sharing funding with foreign collaborators — a move they say could hurt research and future pandemic prevention.

The White House's proposed 2026 budget cites NIH funding of research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology as a reason for a nearly $18 billion budget cut. President Donald Trump has said he believes the COVID virus originated there.

“Whether or not you agree with the theory, foreign subawards support research to prevent the next pandemic,” one scientist said anonymously “Canceling them all at once with little to no warning is asking for another pandemic.”

At the town hall, Bhattacharya also addressed controversial topics like diversity, equity and inclusion, also known as DEI, in research.

He said he supported studies on issues like redlining, or racial discrimination in housing and lending practices, and access to care, but questioned research that claimed, without clear proof, that structural racism causes poor health outcomes.

Tension grew when an audience member challenged him directly, CNN reported.

Bhattacharya acknowledged later that he took office the same day 1,200 NIH staff were laid off.

“I actually don’t have any transparency in how those decisions were made," he said. "And I was quite upset about that. It would be nice to have had some say.”

He also mentioned ending a requirement imposed by Elon Musk, then a senior adviser to Trump, for scientists to send weekly emails listing five accomplishments from the week.

"That was ridiculous," he said, to a round of applause. "I’m really flat proud that we don’t have to have some of the best scientists in the world tell me what they did last week with five points. That made no sense.”

A week after the town hall, union members said they had not yet heard back from Bhattacharya’s office to schedule a meeting.

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted May 2025

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