WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Office of Human Research Protections has reduced its staff by more than 50 percent since February 2025. This reduction occurred through workforce reductions, resignations, and early retirements, leaving the office with only 10 employees.
The office has also been without division directors for policy, compliance, and education for approximately one year. Lisa Buchanan, former director of the compliance division, stated, "The Trump administration literally just squashed us like a bug." Departing staff include Buchanan, director Molly Klote, and deputy director Julie Kaneshiro.
The office was advised at its establishment in 2000 to maintain at least 42 employees to fulfill its responsibilities. Emily Hilliard, HHS senior press secretary, stated, "The Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) remains fully engaged and capable to support the policy, education, and safety responsibilities related to protections for human subjects in research."
The office's advisory committee was dissolved in the spring of 2024. Ivy Tillman, executive director of Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research, said, "This is a specialized field. You have to build up years of experience. At OHRP, that institutional knowledge is gone." Tillman also asked, "What message is the federal government sending about the importance of ethics and oversight?"
The office has discontinued free educational activities, community forums, and annual workshops for scientists and institutions conducting human research. In 2021, the office received a report of a suicide involving a participant in a study conducted at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. An investigation by the office identified failures in the institute's ethics board review of proposed research.
The Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health participated in the review of the institute's study. The office placed a hold on all Department of Health and Human Services-funded clinical research at the institute. The agency suspended all grants for human subject research at the institute.
The institute implemented a corrective action plan that included restructuring its human research protections program under new leadership, adding mandatory training for scientists, and establishing new reporting methods. The office lifted the research ban at the institute in October 2024. In December 2024, the institute signed an agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services to continue its corrective action plan, which includes monthly progress reports and at least one on-site visit in the first year. The required on-site visit under this agreement has not occurred.