Rick Bright
Rick Bright | |
---|---|
Preparedness and Response | |
In office November 15, 2016 – April 22, 2020 | |
President | Barack Obama Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Robin Robinson |
Succeeded by | Gary Disbrow |
Member of the COVID-19 Advisory Board | |
In office November 9, 2020–January 10, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Position established* |
Succeeded by | Position abolished* |
Personal details | |
Born | Rick Arthur Bright Yerkes National Primate Research Center Novavax Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority |
Thesis | Studies on pathogenicity and control of H5N1 influenza A viruses in mice (2002) |
Doctoral advisor | Jacqueline Katz |
Other academic advisors | Jeff Barksdale |
Rick Arthur Bright is an American
Early life
Bright was born and raised in
Career
From 1990 to 1992, Bright worked as a product manager in the Research & Development Department of Osborn Laboratories in
From 1998 to 2002, Bright worked at the
From 2006 to 2008, Bright returned to working in the private sector of the biotechnology industry at Novavax in Maryland, where he was vice president of their global influenza programs as well as of their vaccine research and development. For his work there, he was an adviser to the WHO and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and became the recipient of the prestigious Charles C. Shepard Science Award for Scientific Excellence, jointly awarded by the CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO).[15] During that time, he also participated in WHO committees on vaccine development and pandemic preparedness.[9][13][16][17]
In February 2008, Bright worked at the non-profit
In 2010, Bright joined the
On November 15, 2016, after a competitive selection process,
On October 29, 2019, two months prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bright participated in a meeting titled "Universal Flu Vaccine" at the Milken Institute School of Public Health with other government officials, including Anthony Fauci. The meeting discussed a perceived need to "blow up the system" in-order to bypass regulatory control on mRNA vaccines. Participants also discussed the need to create an "aura of excitement" and "make influenza sexy" in order to revive government funding and drive production of mRNA vaccines, which Bright and others considered superior to "traditional egg-based vaccines".[22]
On April 20, 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Bright was reassigned to the National Institutes of Health.[23] An HHS spokesperson said Bright's new role would be to help "accelerate the development and deployment of novel point-of-care testing platforms".[24] Bright challenged his transfer, stating that it was retaliation his insistence that the government address the pandemic by investing the billions of dollars allocated by Congress for that purpose in supplies and "safe and scientifically vetted solutions, and not in drugs, vaccines and other technologies that lack scientific merit." He said such unproven drugs were being promoted by individuals with political connections and that he resisted these endeavors, which he called "cronyism."[25]
Among these complaints, Bright objected to providing additional federal funding to Ridgeback Biotherapeutics to further develop molnupiravir into a treatment for COVID-19. He argued that although the drug had shown potential against coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2, it had already received substantial government support.[26] Bright also wanted to see more safety data for molnupiravir before final sign-off, due to the fact that some other nucleoside analogue drugs had caused birth defects in animal studies.[26][27]
In his complaint, he asked to be reinstated as director at BARDA, accusing the
On November 9, President-elect Joe Biden named Bright to be one of the 13 members of his coronavirus task force.[7][29]
In March 2021 he was hired by the Rockefeller Foundation as Senior Vice President of Pandemic Prevention and Response. His assignment is to "lead the Foundation’s work to collaborate with leading global public health emergency organizations and entities to develop a pandemic prevention institute that aims to avert future pandemics by identifying and responding to the earliest alerts of a disease outbreak and stopping it in the first 100 days."[30]
COVID-19 whistleblower complaint
On May 5, 2020,
In his complaint, Bright also noted the dangers in pursuing EIDD-2801 (now marketed under the tradename Molnupiravir), an oral antiviral candidate previously supported by NIAID led by Dr. Anthony Fauci and DOD.[40] Later in May, pharmaceutical giant Merck announced plans to develop the drug.[41][42] In February 2021, Bright co-authored an opinion editorial in the Washington Post claiming "efforts to develop a therapeutics were slow and limited." The editorial stressed the need for orally administered therapeutics and emphasized the need for non-advanced therapeutic development.[43]
On May 7, 2020, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel determined that there were "reasonable grounds to believe" that the Trump administration's HHS had unlawfully retaliated against Bright, in violation of the
In written testimony at a May 14, 2020, hearing before the
On October 6, 2020, Bright submitted what he called his "involuntary resignation" from his final government post, because, as he explained, his superiors had made his work life intolerable. In an addendum to his whistleblower complaint, he stated that, following his demotion, he had been given "no meaningful work" since September 4; that NIH officials had rejected his proposals for a national COVID-19 testing strategy "because of political considerations"; and that officials had ignored his request that he join the $10 billion Operation Warp Speed initiative to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.[2]
Other activities
- Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee (since 2023)[46]
See also
- Rebekah Jones, former Florida Department of Health data scientist and whistleblower
- Ashley Gjøvik, former Apple program manager and whistleblower
- Li Wenliang, former Central Hospital of Wuhan ophthalmologist and COVID-19 whistleblower
References
- ^ Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (May 5, 2020). "Who is Rick Bright? The Coronavirus Whistle-Blower Who Said the Trump Administration Steered Contracts to Cronies". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (October 6, 2020). "Whistle-Blowing Scientist Quits Government With Final Broadside". New York Times.
- ^ Brangham, William; Kane, Jason (June 19, 2019). "Why the race to stop the next flu outbreak starts at state fairs and the beach". PBS NewsHour.
- ^ Shear, Michael D.; Haberman, Maggie (April 22, 2020). "Health Dept. Official Says Doubts on Hydroxychloroquine Led to His Ouster". The New York Times.
- ^ Collins, Kaitlan; Diamond, Jeremy; Liptak, Kevin (May 5, 2020). "Ousted vaccine director files whistleblower complaint alleging coronavirus warnings were ignored". CNN.
- ^ a b Florko, Nicholas (May 5, 2020). "Vaccine expert says demotion followed criticism of coronavirus response". STAT.
- ^ a b Mucha, Sarah (November 9, 2020). "Biden transition team announces coronavirus advisers, including whistleblower Rick Bright". CNN. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
- ^ Booker, Ashley (November 15, 2016). "Hutchinson native selected for two Health and Human Services positions". The Hutchinson News.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Witness Disclosure Requirement, CV: Rick A. Bright, PhD" (PDF). Committee on Energy and Commerce, U.S. House of Representatives. March 6, 2018.
- ^ Archibald, John (May 8, 2020). "Scientist at odds with Trump Admin has Alabama roots". AL.com. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
- ^ ProQuest 276273683.
- ^ a b "Rick Bright Selected as New BARDA Director". Global Biodefense. November 15, 2016.
- ^ a b "BIO 2019 – Profile – Dr. Rick Bright". 2019 BIO International Convention. 2019.
- ^ Savage, Neil (September 18, 2019). "The push for better flu therapies". Scientific American.
- S2CID 166672092.
- ^ a b "R&D Blueprint: Rick A. Bright". World Health Organization, Scientific Advisory Group members. May 2016. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
- ^ Ousted federal official testifying on coronavirus response has extensive vaccine preparedness experience, CNN, Devan Cole and Caroline Kelly, May 13, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
- ^ Owens, Brian (February 1, 2018). "Zika vaccine development: two years on from the outbreak". The Pharmaceutical Journal.
- ^ "Director Rick Bright Moves to NIH to Head COVID-19 Testing R&D". Xconomy. April 21, 2020.
- ^ a b c "U.S. Office of Special Counsel Complaint & Disclosure Form: R Bright Complaint (redacted). Addendum to the Complaint of Prohibited Personnel Practice and Other Prohibited Activity by the Department of Health and Human Services Submitted by Dr. Rick Bright" (PDF). Katz Marshall & Banks. May 5, 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 21, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
- ^ "Biography: Rick A. Bright, Ph.D." U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. Archived from the original on April 4, 2020.
- ^ "Universal Flu Vaccine". C-SPAN.org. October 29, 2019. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ Segers, Grace (April 23, 2020). "HHS ousts vaccine expert who pushed back on COVID-19 treatment". CBS News.
- ^ Diamond, Dan (April 22, 2020). "Ousted vaccine expert battles with Trump team over his abrupt dismissal". Politico.
- ^ Bright, Rick (April 22, 2020). "Read: Statement from leader of federal vaccine agency about his reassignment". CNN.
- ^ a b Cohen J, Piller C (May 13, 2020). "Emails offer look into whistleblower charges of cronyism behind potential COVID-19 drug". Science. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
- ^ "Merck's Little Brown Pill Could Transform the Fight Against Covid". Bloomberg. March 25, 2021. Archived from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
- ^ a b c Rupar, Aaron (April 22, 2020). "The HHS official overseeing coronavirus vaccine development says he was ousted after his objections to hydroxychloroquine". Vox.
- ^ "Members of President-elect Biden's coronavirus task force". Apnews.com. November 9, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
- ^ "Dr. Rick Bright Joins The Rockefeller Foundation to Lead Pandemic Prevention Institute Development". The Rockefeller Foundation. March 8, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
- ^ Abutaleb, Yasmeen; McGinley, Laurie (May 5, 2020). "Ousted vaccine official alleges he was demoted for prioritizing 'science and safety'". The Washington Post.
- ^ a b c d Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (May 8, 2020). "Federal Watchdog Says Coronavirus Whistle-Blower Should Be Reinstated as It Investigates". The New York Times.
- ^ "Exhibits submitted as part of Rick Bright's whistleblower complaint". The Washington Post. May 5, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
- ^ https://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/IF14/20200514/110749/HHRG-116-IF14-Transcript-20200514.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ Adams, Ben (April 23, 2020). "Ex-BARDA chief decries science taking back seat to politics, demands investigation into Trump administration". FierceBiotech.
- ^ "'Ousted' US vaccine expert to file complaint". BBC News. April 24, 2020.
- ^ "Dr. Bright: I was pressured to let politics, cronyism drive decisions over science". MSNBC. May 5, 2020.
- ^ Mangan, Dan (April 22, 2020). "Top vaccine doctor says his concern about Trump's coronavirus treatment theory led to ouster from federal agency". CNBC.
- ^ Diamond, Jeremy; Collins, Kaitlan; Hoye, Matthew (April 23, 2020). "Bright's ouster shines light on months of HHS turmoil". CNN.
- ^ Cohen, Jon. "Emails offer look into whistleblower charges of cronyism behind potential COVID-19 drug | Science | AAAS". Sciencemag.org. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
- ^ Philippidis, Alex (May 26, 2020). "COVID-19 Triple Play: Merck Acquiring Themis, Partnering with Ridgeback, IAVI".
- ^ Entrepreneur en Español (March 2, 2016). "Molnupiravir: The Drug That May 'Completely' Stop the Spread of Coronavirus In 24 Hours". Entrepreneur.com. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
- ^ "Opinion | Vaccines alone won't solve the pandemic. Here are 3 other things we must do". The Washington Post. February 5, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
- ^ Diamond, Jeremy; Collins, Kaitlin (May 13, 2020). "Rick Bright will warn Congress of 'darkest winter in modern history' without ramped up coronavirus response". CNN.
- ^ Feuer, Will (May 14, 2020). "HHS whistleblower says coronavirus vaccine won't be ready in 18 months: 'We've never seen everything go perfectly'". Cnbc.com. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
- ^ New experts appointed to join CEPI Scientific Advisory Committee Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), press release of 6 November 2023.
External links
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Scientific Integrity in the COVID-19 Response Archived March 18, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. Written Testimony to the House Subcommittee on Health, May 14, 2020