Rick Bright, Trump administration vaccine expert turned whistleblower, resigns NIH post

WASHINGTON — Rick Bright, the Trump administration vaccine expert turned whistleblower, resigned from the federal government Tuesday, according to a press release from his lawyer.

Bright, who headed the powerful Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, was abruptly reassigned in April to a lesser position at the National Institutes of Health. Bright has alleged he was moved after raising concerns about the Trump administration’s response to Covid-19 and nepotism within the Department of Health and Human Services. In May, he filed a formal whistleblower complaint against his former employer.

In an amended whistleblower complaint filed Tuesday, Bright said that he had only been given one assignment since being assigned to the NIH, which is now complete.

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