BIODEFENSENIAID Staffers Ordered to Remove Biodefense, Pandemic Preparedness Language on Website
Staff members at the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) have been told to delete the words “biodefense” and “pandemic preparedness” from the institute’s website.
Staff members at the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) have been told to delete the words “biodefense” and “pandemic preparedness” from the institute’s website, a move that experts say will hobble the United States’ ability to respond to future infectious disease threats, Nature reported late last week.
The journal said the directives were outlined in emails it obtained, but it didn’t name the person who sent them. It said four NIAID staffers spoke to Nature on the condition of anonymity because the institute didn’t authorize them to speak to media.
The staffers told Nature that NIAID, one of 27 institutes at the centers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), likely will deprioritize its traditional research pillars of HIV, biodefense, and pandemic preparedness as part of a broader reorganization.
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“Just because we say we’re going to stop caring about these issues doesn’t make the issues go away—it just makes us less prepared.”
Nahid Bhadelia, MD
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Rather, the NIAID will now “address the most impactful infectious diseases that Americans currently face with evidence from gold standard science and … support innovative research to address fundamental studies in immunology and allergic and autoimmune diseases to improve patient outcomes,” Bhattacharya and colleagues wrote in a January 16 commentary in Nature Medicine.
Nahid Bhadelia, MD, director of Boston University’s Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases, told Nature that the deprioritization of biodefense and pandemic preparedness will weaken the United States’ ability to respond to pathogens that are constantly evolving in wildlife and spilling over into people. “Just because we say we’re going to stop caring about these issues doesn’t make the issues go away—it just makes us less prepared,” she said.
Shrinking Investment in U.S. Readiness
Today, about a third of the institute’s $6.6 billion budget supports studies on pathogens of concern and developing ways to protect Americans from emerging infectious diseases and threats such as radiation and chemical threats, and $1.5 billion funds HIV/AIDS research projects.
Since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, the NIH workforce has been reduced by roughly 20% through layoffs or resignations. In June 2025, officials also idled the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, which was launched in 2023 to maintain readiness to respond to biological threats and pathogens, including development of new vaccines and treatments.
Mary Van Beusekom, MS, is a reporter and editor for CIDRAP News. This article is published courtesy of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy (CIDRAP).
