House Dem Defending NIH Status Quo Has Strong Family Ties to the Agency

Clear Facts

• Rep. Jake Auchincloss, a Democratic congressman, is a vocal supporter of maintaining the current structure at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
• Auchincloss’s father, Hugh Auchincloss, was closely associated with NIAID and Anthony Fauci, while his mother, Laurie H. Glimcher, has faced scrutiny over scientific papers with irregularities.
• Emails released through the Freedom of Information Act revealed discussions between Fauci and Hugh Auchincloss about research with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

In the ongoing debate over the direction of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Rep. Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts has positioned himself as a staunch advocate for preserving the status quo. During a House Energy and Commerce Committee meeting, he voiced his opposition to proposed cuts by the Trump administration, stating, “curiosity-driven peer reviewed basic research is not meant to pass the politicians’ test.”

However, questions have arisen about potential conflicts of interest due to Auchincloss’s family connections. His father, Hugh Auchincloss, served as a key aide to Anthony Fauci at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for 16 years. Hugh Auchincloss was not just any bureaucrat; he led intramural research at NIAID and even stepped in as acting director from 2022 to 2023.

The elder Auchincloss’s name gained public attention when emails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act revealed private discussions about research involving the Wuhan Institute of Virology. These discussions took place in February 2020, well before the research became widely known.

“IMPORTANT,” Fauci wrote in an email to Hugh Auchincloss on February 1, 2020, shortly after learning about the potential engineered nature of the novel coronavirus. Fauci instructed, “It is essential that we speak this AM. Keep your cell phone on. You will have tasks today that must be done.”

Meanwhile, Laurie H. Glimcher, Auchincloss’s mother and former president and CEO of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, has faced her own controversies. She coauthored several papers that were later found to contain irregularities, including image manipulation. One such paper in the journal Science was retracted in April 2024, with the retraction notice acknowledging “discrepancies” in the figures.

The scrutiny around Glimcher’s work comes amid broader concerns about research integrity within the scientific community. Sholto David, a scientific sleuth, uncovered evidence of manipulated images in numerous papers from Dana Farber, leading to multiple retractions and corrections.

“Scientists often lay claim to their colleagues’ successes but never take responsibility for their fraud and failures,” said David, highlighting a lack of introspection within the scientific community.

As the debate over NIH funding and oversight continues, the family ties of Rep. Jake Auchincloss add an intriguing layer to the discussion, raising questions about potential biases and conflicts of interest in his advocacy for the NIH.

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