'Under Prasad, employees of key FDA center fear speaking out, look for exits'

 A slow-boiling feud between Vinay Prasad and his staff at the Food and Drug Administration is threatening the future of the center that regulates the nation’s vaccines, biological products, and blood supply. 

Dozens of scientists are considering leaving the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, where Prasad serves as director, to escape a work environment that eight agency officials described to STAT as rife with mistrust and paranoia. These officials said staffers are terrified of pushing back on Prasad, lest they face retaliation. 

https://www.statnews.com/2025/10/31/vinay-prasad-fda-cber-management-issues-insiders-say/

One of the people Prasad ousted was Richard Forshee, PhD, who was in charge of the office that oversees vaccine safety and surveillance. Prasad took over this role himself, and has overrode CBER staff to uplift his own views on multiple occasions.

CBER employees told STAT that Prasad is not a transparent or communicative manager and his main leadership goal seems to be adding more scrutiny to vaccines. Several employees have filed human resources complaints about Prasad's management. Prasad also has a tendency to ignore chains of command and reach out to people directly; this deviates form the norm so much that some of Prasad's emails have been reported as phishing.

Prasad's tenure as CBER director has been tumultuous. He was fired after 3 months on the job and rehired just 2 weeks later when HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA commissioner Marty Makary, MD, MPH stuck their necks out for him.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/118320