Kevin Hall resigns from NIH: A national tragedy

This announcement on X of his resignation from NIH comes from Kevin Hall, who did the study I admire so much on how ultra-processed foods induce people to eat more calories (500 more a day!).

Unfortunately, recent events have made me question whether NIH continues to be a place where I can freely conduct unbiased science. Specifically, I experienced censorship in the reporting of our research because of agency concerns that it did not appear to fully support preconceived narratives of my agency’s leadership about ultra-processed food addiction.

I was hoping this was an aberration. So, weeks ago I wrote to my agency’s leadership expressing my concerns and requested time to discuss these issues, but I never received a response.

Without any reassurance there wouldn’t be continued censorship or meddling in our research, I felt compelled to accept early retirement to preserve health insurance for my family. (Resigning later in protest of any future meddling or censorship would result in losing that benefit.)

Due to very tight deadlines to make this decision, I don’t yet have plans for my future career.

Comment

I consider Hall’s departure from NIH a national tragedy.

It is utterly shameful that NIH was not allowing him to talk about his science openly because its results don’t fit with aspects of the MAHA (Make America Health Again) narrative.  It is shocking that NIH refused to allow him to sign papers he co-authored because they mentioned equity—one of the hundreds of words forbidden by this administration.

His work was essential to the MAHA agenda—exactly the science needed to promote public health.  NIH is part of HHS, which is headed by RFK Jr, who leads MAHA.

Hall’s treatment does not bode well for the MAHA movement.  Instead, it casts doubt on this movement’s credibility.

Hall’s group is the only one I know of that was able to conduct carefully controlled clinical trials of calorie intake and weight gain.  His study subjects are monitored; they cannot “forget” what they ate, or lie about it, or eat what they are not supposed to.  No other nutrition studies have this level of control.

His ultra-processed study had an enormously important result, not least because it was so unexpected.  Hall went into the study thinking that ultra-processing would not make any difference.  The 500 calorie difference was a big surprise.  That’s the way science is supposed to work; this was real science in action.

Hall was engaged in further studies to determine the mechanism underlying the calorie finding.  Let’s hope someone continues them.

I view his resignation under these circumstances as an act of extraordinary courage and scientific integrity.

He deserves our deepest respect and appreciation.

For more on this

• Kevin Hall’s complete statement on Twitter (X)
• CNN Health’s account: Top NIH nutrition researcher studying ultraprocessed foods departs, citing censorship under Kennedy (I’m quoted)
• The New York Times account: Leading Nutrition Scientist Departs N.I.H., Citing Censorship.  This quotes Hall:“We experienced what amounts to censorship and controlling of the reporting of our science,” Dr. Hall said, adding that he was worried that if he stayed, officials might also interfere with the design and execution of his studies. “That would make me hate my job every day”…In February, Dr. Hall said that N.I.H. officials told him he couldn’t be listed as an author on a yet-to-be-published scientific review on ultraprocessed foods that he co-wrote with a group of university scientists. This was because the review included language about “health equity” (it acknowledged that some people in the United States don’t have access to healthy food)…If Dr. Hall wanted to stay on the paper, they said, that section would need to be modified. Dr. Hall removed his name — a first in his career as a government scientist.
• Jane Black on Consumed:  MAHA just cost the NIH its star nutrition researcher. Nutrition research has always been a red-headed stepchild at NIH, underfunded and undervalued. In 2023, the NIH allocated $2.2 billion to nutrition research, just over 4 percent of its total research budget. This, despite the fact that nearly 40 percent of Americans are obese, and the cost of obesity-related medical care is estimated to be nearly $173 billion annually…And this is why Kevin Hall matters so much. Against the odds, Hall was performing randomized controlled trials. He was conducting them on ultra-processed foods, the hottest issue in nutrition policy. He has persisted in the face of deep cuts: In 2017, the NIH clinical trial unit went from 10 beds to seven, reducing the speed at which Hall could conduct his research.
• Ted Kyle on ConscienHealth: In March, Hall and colleagues published a study in Cell Metabolism and concluded: “The etiology of common obesity is more complex than dopamine-mediated ultra-processed food addiction, and the neurochemistry associated with excess adiposity, such as increased dopamine tone, is not analogous to a state of drug tolerance.”  This apparently did not fit well enough with Kennedy’s narrative that ultra-processed foods are “poisoning” Americans because they are addictive and full of chemicals that harm us.
• MSNBC interview with Chris Hayes.