M Deming 🦠⚕️

Coronavirologist, Infectious Disease doc, @[email protected]

[DrDemetre @dr_demetre]

CDC damage is done. Rescinded firings or not. US health security is compromised. Check out this article: https://t.co/rn2MhJx4wz

[DrDemetre @dr_demetre]

My resignation letter from CDC.

Dear Dr. Houry,

I am writing to formally resign from my position as Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), effective August 28, 2025, close of business.   I am happy to stay on for two weeks to provide transition, if requested.

This decision has not come easily, as I deeply value the work that the CDC does in safeguarding public health and am proud of my contributions to that critical mission. However, after much contemplation and reflection on recent developments and perspectives brought to light by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., I find that the views he and his staff have shared challenge my ability to continue in my current role at the agency and in the service of the health of the American people. Enough is enough.

While I hold immense respect for the institution and my colleagues, I believe that it is imperative to align my professional responsibilities to my system of ethics and my understanding of the science of infectious disease, immunology, and my promise to serve the American people.  This step is necessary to ensure that I can contribute effectively in a capacity that allows me to remain true to my principles.

I am unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public’s health.  The recent change in the adult and children’s immunization schedule threaten the lives of the youngest Americans and pregnant people.   The data analyses that supported this decision have never been shared with CDC despite my respectful requests to HHS and other leadership.  This lack of meaningful engagement was further compounded by a “frequently asked questions” document written to support the Secretary’s directive that was circulated by HHS without input from CDC subject matter experts and that cited studies that did not support the conclusions that were attributed to these authors.  Having worked in local and national public health for years, I have never experienced such radical non-transparency, nor have I seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end rather than the good of the American people.

It is untenable to serve in an organization that is not afforded the opportunity to discuss decisions of scientific and public health importance released under the moniker of CDC.  The lack of communication by HHS and other CDC political leadership that culminates in social media posts announcing major policy changes without prior notice demonstrate a disregard of normal communication channels and common sense.  Having to retrofit analyses and policy actions to match inadequately thought-out announcements in poorly scripted videos or page long X posts should not be how organizations responsible for the health of people should function.  Some examples include the announcement of the change in the COVID-19 recommendations for children and pregnant people, the firing of scientists from ACIP by X post and an op-ed rather than direct communication with these valuable experts, the announcement of new ACIP members by X before onboarding and vetting have completed, and the release of term of reference for an ACIP workgroup that ignored all feedback from career staff at CDC.

The recent term of reference for the COVID vaccine work group created by this ACIP puts people of dubious intent and more dubious scientific rigor in charge of recommending vaccine policy to a director hamstrung and sidelined by an authoritarian leader.   Their desire to please a political base will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults.  Their base should be the people they serve not a political voting bloc.

I have always been first to challenge scientific and public health dogma in my career and was excited by the opportunity to do so again.  I was optimistic that there would be an opportunity to brief the Secretary about key topics such as measles, avian influenza, and the highly coordinated approach to the respiratory virus season.  Such briefings would allow exchange of ideas and a shared path to support the vision of “Making America Healthy Again.”  We are seven months into the new administration, and no CDC subject matter expert from my Center has ever briefed the Secretary.  I am not sure who the Secretary is listening to, but it is quite certainly not to us.  Unvetted and conflicted outside organizations seem to be the sources HHS use over the gold standard science of CDC and other reputable sources.  At a hearing, Secretary Kennedy said that Americans should not take medical advice from him.  To the contrary, an appropriately briefed and inquisitive Secretary should be a source of health information for the people he serves. As it stands now, I must agree with him, that he should not be considered a source of accurate information.

The intentional eroding of trust in low-risk vaccines favoring natural infection and unproven remedies will bring us to a pre-vaccine era where only the strong will survive and many if not all will suffer.  I believe in nutrition and exercise.  I believe in making our food supply healthier, and I also believe in using vaccines to prevent death and disability.  Eugenics plays prominently in the rhetoric being generated and is derivative of a legacy that good medicine and science should continue to shun.

The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning.  My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so.  I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud.   I am resigning because of the cowardice of a leader that cannot admit that HIS and his minions’ words over decades created an environment where violence like this can occur.  I reject his and his colleagues’ thoughts and prayers, and advise they direct those to people that they have not actively harmed.

For decades, I have been a trusted voice for the LGBTQ community when it comes to critical health topics.  I must also cite the recklessness of the administration in their efforts to erase transgender populations, cease critical domestic and international HIV programming, and terminate key research to support equity as part of my decision.

Public health is not merely about the health of the individual, but it is about the health of the community, the nation, the world. The nation’s health security is at risk and is in the hands of people focusing on ideological self-interest.

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the opportunities for growth, learning, and collaboration that I have been afforded during my time at the CDC. It has been a privilege to work alongside such dedicated professionals who are committed to improving the health and well-being of communities across the nation even when under attack from within both physically and psychologically.

Thank you once again for the support and guidance I have received from you and previous CDC leadership throughout my tenure. I wish the CDC continued success in its vital mission and that HHS reverse its dangerous course to dismantle public health as a practice and as an institution.  If they continue the current path, they risk our personal well-being and the security of the United States.

Sincerely,

Demetre C. Daskalakis MD MPH (he/his/him)

[Tommy Vietor @TVietor08]

I don't understand how anyone with a soul can see these images and not immediately understand how fucking evil this war is. Every country in the world should be putting maximum pressure on Israel to allow in aid and to broker a ceasefire that permanently ends the war.

[Jon Favreau @jonfavs]

Seriously, why are you lying like this?

You know full well that the percentage of people on Medicaid who can work but aren’t is ~3%

You know full well that the work requirements represent a fraction of the Medicaid cuts in this bill!

You said you wouldn’t support a bill with over $500 million in cuts. You’re voting for a version with $1 trillion in cuts. You expect us to believe the extra half a trillion is about work requirements?

And then you have the nerve to accuse liberals of not valuing work? In a bill that will cost millions of manufacturing and construction jobs just because Trump doesn’t like windmills and electric cars?

Your yes vote is bad enough - at least explain it without lying

[Dr. Lynda Coughlan 🔬 @Virusnerdette]

Officially promoted to Associate Professor @UMBaltimore effective today 🎉 Huge thanks to my fantastic lab, great colleagues and supportive dept chairs @jimkaper1 & @KathyNeuzil (former chair). And to everyone who kindly wrote letters of support for me! You know who you are 😊

[Florian Krammer @florian_krammer]

@SenBillCassidy Fix it. There are plenty of competent people who can help.

[Jon Favreau @jonfavs]

The federal government just punished thousands of innocent students because a private university refused to violate their constitutional rights and allow the state to spy on them. You’re seriously referring to that as democratic accountability?

Your intellectual justifications for your administration’s thuggish, unlawful behavior are insulting. At least your boss just owns it.

[Jon Favreau @jonfavs]

This is FUCKING INSANE

Trump's ICE goons detained a Canadian actress because of confusion over a work visa for TWO WEEKS - shackled, thrown in a van, sent to AZ, kept awake, not allowed to contact a lawyer
https://t.co/3DtPrwxwiK

[Jon Favreau @jonfavs]

Everyone read this. This is our country now. This is how we’re treating human beings who’ve committed no crimes. Evil.

[Angelo Carusone @GoAngelo]

1. What you see here is clearest illustration why things are so messed up and why it cannot get any better until this asymmetry is addressed.

Put simply: right-wing has narrative dominance.

My org (@mmfa) did this study and been sounding this alarm for years. Some thoughts...

[IDSA @IDSAInfo]

The announcement that CDC will look at potential links between vaccines and autism means that significant federal resources will be diverted from crucial areas of study, including research into the unknown causes of autism, at a time when research funding is already facing deep cuts.

Our statement on CDC's decision to study vaccines and autism: https://t.co/i0YO8n1Uz7

[Craig Spencer MD MPH @Craig_A_Spencer]

I just watched the whole RFK Jr—Hannity interview where they discuss measles.

I don't know what to say.

I'm really just speechless.

Listening to health leadership bungle basic facts at best—and tell outright lies about long-settled science at worst—is just SO disappointing.

[Association for Women in Science @AWISNational]

We love to see everyone #StandUpForScience!

[Brian Schatz @brianschatz]

The stock market is down but at least everything is more expensive and services are getting shittier. On the other hand we have more measles. To be fair, they are finally delivering the reductions in FAA and National Parks staff that people have been demanding.

[Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @AOC]

This guy is a leech on the public. No matter how many billions he gets in tax cuts and government contracts, it will never be enough for him.

Now he’s going after the elderly, the disabled, and orphaned children so he can pocket it in tax cuts for himself.

It’s disgusting.

[Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders]

Wrong, Elon. Social Security has paid every benefit owed to every eligible American for 86 years. We can make it solvent for the next 75 years and expand benefits by scrapping the cap that allows billionaires like you to pay the same amount into Social Security as a truck driver.

[Governor Tim Walz @GovTimWalz]

Donald Trump is embarrassing the United States on the world stage. We are a country that stands up to dictators and fights for democracy.

Minnesota stands firmly with our allies in Ukraine.

[Kepecs Lab @KepecsLab]

Huge cancer breakthrough! mRNA vaccine (similar to COVID vaccine tech) shows stunning results against pancreatic cancer! 75% of responsive patients STILL cancer-free at 3 yr, normally 80% recur. Could revolutionize treatment for one of deadliest cancers! Funded in part by @NIH

[Craig Spencer MD MPH @Craig_A_Spencer]

So, it's NOT true to say 'one of things we accidentally cancelled very briefly was Ebola prevention' and that it was quickly restored...

Because you've hobbled or directly dismantled the response structures needed to end Ebola outbreaks abroad and protect us here in the U.S.