Wenstrup Announces Hearing with NIH Principal Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak

WASHINGTON — Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) will hold a hearing titled “Overseeing the Overseers: A Hearing with NIH Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak.” This hearing will examine the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) process for funding and overseeing scientific research as well as delve into the NIH’s relationship with EcoHealth Alliance (EcoHealth). Information uncovered during the Select Subcommittee’s extensive investigation into the origins of COVID-19 has revealed serious, systemic vulnerabilities in the NIH’s and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ (NIAID) grant processes that must be rectified before a future public health crisis strikes. This hearing will provide Americans with an opportunity to hear directly from the former Acting NIH Director and current Principal Deputy Director, Dr. Lawrence Tabak, regarding how NIH plans to address these failures to prevent them from reoccurring.

The President of EcoHealth, Dr. Peter Daszak, testified — both in public and behind closed doors — to his use of taxpayer dollars to facilitate gain-of-function research in China and EcoHealth’s failures to follow required grant procedures. This testimony frequently conflicts with the testimony of Dr. Tabak and other NIH and NIAID officials. In a new letter, Chairman Wenstrup lays out five major discrepancies between the testimonies and calls on Dr. Tabak to be prepared to address the glaring inconsistencies at his upcoming hearing. Read the new letter to Dr. Tabak here.

“It is now clear that NIH’s procedures for funding and overseeing potentially dangerous research are deficient, unreliable, and pose a serious threat to both public health and national security. Under its not-so-watchful eye, EcoHealth Alliance was allowed to facilitate gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China using U.S. taxpayer dollars. New evidence shows that EcoHealth violated the terms of its grant and NIH and NIAID were none the wiser. The Select Subcommittee is concerned that EcoHealth is not simply a ‘bad apple,’ but perhaps one of many federally funded grantees the NIH may be inadequately overseeing. Unelected government officials controlling the flow of billions of dollars must be held to the highest possible standards. The Select Subcommittee is generously providing Dr. Tabak, who is presenting to us voluntarily, with ample time to prepare responses to our questions and we expect that he will come ready to provide answers,” said Chairman Wenstrup.

WHAT: Hearing titled “Overseeing the Overseers: A Hearing with NIH Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak”

DATE: Thursday, May 16, 2024

TIME: 9:00AM ET

LOCATION: 2154 Rayburn House Office Building

WITNESS:

Dr. Lawrence Tabak

Principal Deputy Director

National Institutes of Health

WATCH: The hearing will be open to the public and press and will be livestreamed online at https://oversight.house.gov/.

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