Since Monday, several senior leaders at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been reassigned or placed on administrative leave, including the directors of five NIH institutes and at least two other high-ranking officials. This comes as part of a broader restructuring that has led to hundreds of employees being notified of job losses across various federal health agencies.
The layoffs have impacted personnel across the NIH’s 27 institutes and centers, including officials responsible for guiding the agency’s research priorities and drug development, as well as staff members who manage the day-to-day operations and public communications.
In an email to NIH staff, Jay Bhattacharya, who officially took over as the head of the NIH on Tuesday, acknowledged the “significant reduction in workforce.” He noted that this change would profoundly affect key administrative functions such as communications, legislative affairs, procurement, and human resources, requiring a completely new approach to managing these areas moving forward.