Declaration of Michael Lauer, M.D. — Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research v. NIH

Summary

Declaration of Michael Lauer, M.D., Deputy Director for Extramural Research at the National Institutes of Health, filed 09/15/22 as Document 60-1 in Case No. 1:21-cv-1275 (LMB/JFA), Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research v. National Institutes of Health. The declarant states that its purpose is to provide context as to why NIH redacted the names of the researchers who submitted sequences to the Sequence Read Archive and later requested their withdrawal, and the name of the curator, an NIH employee. The declarant states that since 2018 over 500 cases of alleged abusive behavior targeting NIH staff have been personally handled, and expresses concern that increased dissemination of contact information for NIH employees would increase their vulnerability. The declaration is executed on the 15th day of September, 2022.

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Case 1:21-cv-01275-LMB-JFA Document 60-1 Filed 09/15/22 Page 1 of 3 PageID# 1016




                       IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
                       FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
                                  Alexandria Division

 EMPOWER OVERSIGHT                               )
 WHISTLEBLOWERS & RESEARCH,                      )
                                                 )
                        Plaintiff,               )
                                                 )       Case No. 1:21-cv-1275 (LMB/JFA)
        v.                                       )
                                                 )
 NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH,                  )
                                                 )
                        Defendant.               )
                                                 )
                                                 )

                        DECLARATION OF MICHAEL LAUER, M.D.

 I, Michael Lauer, M.D., declare as follows:

        1.       I am the Deputy Director for Extramural Research at the National Institutes of

 Health (“NIH”). I have held this position with NIH since September 2015.

        2.       The purpose of this declaration is to provide context as to why NIH redacted the

 names of the researchers who submitted sequences to the Sequence Read Archive, and later

 requested those sequences be withdrawn, as well as the name of the curator of the Sequence Read

 Archive, an NIH employee.

        3.       I make this Declaration based upon my personal knowledge and information

 available to me in my official capacity.

        4.       By way of background, I received my medical degree from Albany Medical

 College. I interned in medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical

 School, served my residency in medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard

 Medical School, and was a Clinical Fellow in Medicine (Cardiology), Harvard Medical School

 and Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. I also served as a Research Fellow in the Framingham

Case 1:21-cv-01275-LMB-JFA Document 60-1 Filed 09/15/22 Page 2 of 3 PageID# 1017




 Heart Study at Boston University Medical School in Framingham, Massachusetts. I am a

 board-certified cardiologist, an elected member of the American Society of Clinical

 Investigation, and an elected fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American

 Heart Association.

         5.       Until 2007, among other leadership roles I served as a Professor of Medicine,

 Epidemiology, and Biostatistics at the Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner College of Medicine of Case

 Western Reserve University.

         6.       I joined NIH in 2007, first as the Director of the Division of Prevention and

 Population Science at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (“NHLBI”) and then as the

 Director of the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the NHLBI. In 2012, I received the

 Arthur S. Fleming Award for exceptional service in Federal Government.

         7.       In 2015, I became the Deputy Director for Extramural Research at NIH. The

 Office of Extramural Research is part of the Office of the NIH Director. The Office of

 Extramural Research “provides the corporate framework for the NIH research administration

 and works to ensure the scientific integrity, public accountability, and effective stewardship of

 the NIH research grant portfolio.” Office of the Director, NIH, https://www.nih.gov/about-

 nih/what-we-do/nih-almanac/office-director-nih (last visited Sept. 15, 2022).

         8.       Among my many duties, I am responsible for addressing the abusive behavior

 targeting NIH staff that interacts with grantees, or in a third-party research institutions that have

 projects funded by NIH grants. Since 2018, I have personally handled over 500 such cases of

 alleged abusive behavior. Though the majority of these cases involved individuals who had

 research funded by NIH, a small number of these cases did involve harassment from members

 of the public at large.

Case 1:21-cv-01275-LMB-JFA Document 60-1 Filed 09/15/22 Page 3 of 3 PageID# 1018




         9.      I have personally been on the receiving end of some abusive messages, mostly

 from disappointed scientists whose research was not funded. But I also have received similar

 messages from the public at large.

         10.     Abusive behavior—whether it is intimidating messages or phone calls, or

 something more severe and pervasive like a hostile work environment—has negative

 consequences in the scientific community. I am aware of several instances of junior scientists

 who have quit their careers in science due to harassment. These are individuals who could have

 had decades of outstanding work ahead and their contributions to scientific advancement are lost

 to society.

         11.     As I wrote recently, such abusive behavior, when directed at NIH staff, is

 disruptive and potentially affects the ability of NIH staff to conduct mission-critical work. See

 Michael Lauer, M.D., Case Study in Research Integrity: You Can Disagree, Without Being

 Disagreeable, EXTRAMURAL NEXUS, https://nexus.od.nih.gov/all/2022/09/14/case-study-in-

 research-integrity-you-can-disagree-without-being-disagreeable/ (Sept. 14, 2022).

         12.     I am concerned that in this current environment, increased dissemination of

 contact information for NIH employees would increase their vulnerability to abusive behavior

 from members of the public.

  Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury the foregoing to be true and

  correct, to the best of my knowledge, information and belief.

                                                        Executed this 15th day of September, 2022.

                                                               Michael S.          Digitally signed by Michael
                                                                                   S. Lauer -S
                                                               Lauer -S            Date: 2022.09.15 16:08:48 Z


                                                                         MICHAEL LAUER, M.D.

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