Panel discusses future of US public health system after major federal layoffs

The future of the U.S. public health system was debated by experts on June 23 during a panel at the BIO International Convention in San Diego, as recent government restructuring and staff cuts have left agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, and National Institutes of Health in a state of uncertainty.

Demetre Daskalakis, former director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases until October 2025, said that job reductions initiated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) felt less like strategic reorganization and more like indiscriminate deletion. “This feels more like someone is deleting parts of an organization without thought. It’s moth-eaten, for lack of a better term,” Daskalakis said.

Daskalakis cited an example where a CDC branch with ‘equity’ in its name was eliminated despite having little to do with health equity. He said divisions were removed based on keyword searches rather than function. The Department of Health and Human Services reportedly cut about 10,000 employees in early 2025, with another 10,000 leaving through voluntary programs such as early retirement.

A majority of senior roles across key agencies are now filled only in an acting capacity. “From the perspective of what the staff feels, they feel like the administration doesn’t actually value their work because they’re not giving them a permanent leader,” Daskalakis said, regarding morale at CDC.

When asked if recovery is possible for these institutions, Daskalakis replied: “No.” However, he maintained some optimism about rebuilding: “The end of a dark age is always a renaissance… No one ever tries to go fix the Acropolis… They try to build the Sistine Chapel.” Jared Bauer, CEO and cofounder of Seek Labs, agreed that dismantling creates opportunities: “One of the things that happens when you tear down everything is you do have an opportunity to build something different.”

Panelists described past U.S. public health infrastructure as fragmented but noted this disruption could allow intentional rebuilding if stakeholders act quickly amid rising infectious disease threats. Ian Simon, former lead at HHS’ Office of Long Covid—now closed—said international trust built through longstanding relationships can be lost when leadership turns over rapidly: “It saved us days to a week…and it was built on this informal layer…that you lose when you ask senior leaders to go find a different line of work.” Jennifer Eileen Towne from Vir Biotechnology added that close government-industry collaboration had been crucial during Ebola research efforts.

Looking ahead five to ten years, Bauer hoped for strategies built from scratch that would protect against global threats but cautioned there remains uncertainty: “What I think is that likely we’re going to create a similar mess… What I hope is we build the Sistine Chapel.”

This article was written by Lori Ellis and originally published on patientdaily.com on June 23, 2026. Read the original story here.