NINR director placed on leave as part of HHS cuts

National Institute of Nursing Research Director Shannon Zenk, PhD, RN, was placed on administrative leave as part of the Health and Human Services Department’s massive layoffs. HHS fired 10,000 employees; it already had cut 10,000 employees by eliminating probationary employees and offering early retirements and buy-outs, leaving it with 62,000 full-time employees. HHS eliminated the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Patient Safety Network and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention programs related to smoking, lead poisoning, gun violence, asthma and air quality and occupational health and safety. HHS fired 3,500 Food and Drug Administration employees who regulate drugs, food, medical devices and tobacco products. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services slashed its Department of Minority Health. (Nature article, 4/1/25)