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Trump administration fires workers at NIH's Alzheimer's research center, including incoming director
ABC News | Disney ^ | February 22, 2025 | ByWill McDuffie, Cheyenne Haslett, and Sony Salzman

Posted on 02/22/2025 11:33:35 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer

As President Donald Trump directs cuts of tens of thousands of federal government employees, among those laid off at America's health agencies are workers at a National Institutes of Health department focused on dementia research, including its incoming leader, three people familiar with the terminations told ABC News.

The firings at the Center for Alzheimer's and Related Dementias (CARD) affected roughly a tenth of the nearly 100 employees at the center, but in interviews with ABC News, workers there described a carefully woven web of collaboration that they say could be threatened by the layoffs of just a handful of employees, warning that it could jeopardize progress in answering key questions about dementia.

Most shocking to CARD workers was the termination of lead researcher Kendall Van Keuren-Jensen, who was announced internally as the organization's next acting director and was expected to bring significant advancements to the research field.

"It's just jaw-dropping," an upper-level CARD employee told ABC News of Van Keuren-Jensen's firing.

Neurologists say the downsizing at CARD could be a blow to the scientific quest for new Alzheimer's treatments. NIH scientists at CARD work with external scientists to turn early scientific discoveries into treatments and medicines.

The outgoing director, Andrew Singleton, told colleagues in an email that the layoffs would "have a profound impact on the work we do to understand and treat disease," according to one CARD employee.

(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: alzheimers; andrewsingleton; card; cheyennehaslett; debt; dementia; federal; sonysalzman; spending; vankeurenjensen; willmcduffie; workers
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The mediaPAC.
1 posted on 02/22/2025 11:33:35 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The hyphenated last name is a dead giveaway. Liberal twit.

CC


2 posted on 02/22/2025 11:37:36 AM PST by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

It says “they work closely with...”. It is not said but we can then imply the following. Said government employees then receive royalties back from the pharma companies. This is unethical and wrong. An employee of the government is already paid to do this work and government employees should never receive ongoing royalties for government paid work. At best, perhaps a one time modest patent bonus but the government owns the patent.


3 posted on 02/22/2025 11:39:15 AM PST by rigelkentaurus
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

“...roughly a tenth of the nearly 100 employees”


So are we talking 8 or 9 employees? And this is worth a story?


4 posted on 02/22/2025 11:40:35 AM PST by hanamizu ( )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

It’s ok. they won’t remember anyway.


5 posted on 02/22/2025 11:40:38 AM PST by Qwapisking ("The left will rue the day they cheated Trump out of the 2020 election forever" L.Star )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

never has so much money been wasted (sometimes with malice) on big academe/big med/big pharma as has been on althezheimers. they have nothing to really treat it. decades of wasted money. it’s very very sad.


6 posted on 02/22/2025 11:41:30 AM PST by dadfly
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To: Celtic Conservative

The hyphenated last name is a dead giveaway.“

Yep.


7 posted on 02/22/2025 11:42:04 AM PST by gibsonguy
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

ABC News/Disney.


8 posted on 02/22/2025 11:42:16 AM PST by Texas Eagle ("Throw me to the wolves and I'll return leading the pack"- Donald J. Trump)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
The outgoing director, Andrew Singleton, told colleagues in an email that the layoffs would "have a profound impact on the work we do to understand and treat disease," according to one CARD employee.

It's amazing how newly fired people always think they are indispensable and the organization will collapse without them.

And it never does.

9 posted on 02/22/2025 11:42:34 AM PST by RoosterRedux ("There's nothing so inert as a closed mind" )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

At this point it’s not clear whether the medical establishment wants people to have Alzheimer’s or doesn’t want them to have it.


10 posted on 02/22/2025 11:43:39 AM PST by reasonisfaith (What are the personal implications if the Resurrection of Christ is a true event in history?)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

These people think the US Government is there to pay for any and every thing the world needs.


11 posted on 02/22/2025 11:44:10 AM PST by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
next acting director and was expected to bring significant advancements to the research field

Like what? Alzheimer's has basically been a progressive and unstoppable disease for like forever now. What do these people actually do there day in and day out?

12 posted on 02/22/2025 11:45:15 AM PST by Tipllub
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Nobody believes these people are looking to prevent or cure anything.

$$$$

That is our biggest healthcare challenge IMO.


13 posted on 02/22/2025 11:47:31 AM PST by right way right (“May we remain sober over mere men, for God really is our only true hope.)
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To: RoosterRedux

An old chief engineer once told me of a test to see if a person was indispensable on the ship.

Have the person put their hand in a bucket of water and then pull it out. If their hand left an imprint they were indispensable.


14 posted on 02/22/2025 11:50:28 AM PST by Cold Heart (It's a good time to be ashamed to be a democrat)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

This is so cool.


15 posted on 02/22/2025 11:53:47 AM PST by HIDEK6 (God bless Donald Trump)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Clean house of everyone who has been there for a long period. Then, if their hand calls for it, rehire those who weren’t arrogant, overbearing bureaucrats during the years they worked there.


16 posted on 02/22/2025 11:56:45 AM PST by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The subheading could be:

NIH Returns To Using And Applying Real Science.


17 posted on 02/22/2025 12:00:22 PM PST by Ronaldus Magnus III (Do, or do not, there is no try)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

More winning.


18 posted on 02/22/2025 12:00:48 PM PST by SaxxonWoods (Black guy upon receiving a MAGA hat: "MURICA!")
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Two things cause dementia, too low cholesterol and too many carbs. It’s also possible that higher (no, not super-high) blood pressure helps, but I’m not sure of that (but people with higher blood pressure do live longer).

See, no need to spend billions every year to ‘study’ it.


19 posted on 02/22/2025 12:01:06 PM PST by BobL (The people who hate Trump demand that you hate Russia)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Yes nothing was Most shocking about loon Biden to them fools at best.


20 posted on 02/22/2025 12:01:07 PM PST by Vaduz
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