Tara Schwetz, Ph.D., a deputy director at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) who oversaw the creation of the government’s biomedical research funding initiative, has reportedly been put on administrative leave in the latest shake-up to the health agency’s leadership.
Schwetz’s leave will be effective as of 5 p.m. today, Stat reported yesterday. The news broke the same day that the Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s pick Jayanta Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., to lead the NIH.
The removal of Schwetz, who is deputy director of the NIH's program coordination, planning and strategic initiatives, marks the third loss to the agency's senior leadership since the beginning of Trump's second administration, following deputy director for extramural research Michael Lauer, M.D., leaving the organization and the retirement of principal deputy director Larry Tabak, Ph.D.
Both of those departures were reported in February against a backdrop of mass layoffs hitting federal health agencies. Other big-name departures from government health organizations this year include the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Director Renee Wegrzyn, Ph.D.; the FDA’s drug center chief Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D.; the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) deputy director Celia Witten, M.D., Ph.D.; director of the AI-focused Digital Health Center of Excellence Troy Tazbaz; head of medical device safety Ross Segan, M.D.; and food safety chief Jim Jones.
Schwetz was appointed as the NIH’s deputy director for program coordination, planning and strategic initiatives in 2023. One of Schwetz’s most notable achievements was setting up ARPA-H in 2022 with the backing of former President Joe Biden and $1 billion from Congress. The funding agency’s coffers rose to $2.5 billion by May 2023, when the unit said it had hired its first program managers and was “open for business” to deliver on the goal of being a less cumbersome bridge between the public and private sector.
As of publication, the HHS has not responded to Fierce Biotech's request for comment.