Top-ranking NIH official forced to retire under Trump administration
(CBS News)— A top-ranking scientist at the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Lawrence Tabak, was forced to retire this week, multiple people familiar with the move say, marking the highest-profile departure of a health official under the Trump administration so far this year.
Tabak’s retirement, which he told colleagues was effective Tuesday, ends a decades-long tenure serving at the federal medical research agency, including multiple years as the acting director of the NIH during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also served as the agency’s top ethics official.
An email circulated among NIH staff from Tabak did not explain why he was abruptly stepping down, which multiple people familiar with the decision said came earlier than he was planning. One person said he did not plan to retire until at least the fall.
Tabak told one federal researcher that he said he “found it necessary to retire today from federal service.” A former colleague said Tabak, who should have been the second-in-command at the agency, had been excluded from key meetings.
Tabak and spokespeople for the National Institutes of Health did not immediately return requests for comment.
“He has helped shape important policy decisions at NIH over four administrations. He has guided NIH through complex issues and will be sorely missed,” acting NIH Director Dr. Matthew Memoli said in an email Wednesday afternoon to NIH staff announcing the retirement.”
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