A panel of senior NIH officials will direct the review of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP), including management of grants, human resources and ethics programs.

NIEHS Director David Schwartz will temporarily step down until the review is completed.

"Congress and others have raised important questions and concerns over the past few months, and we will be fully responsive," NIH head Elias Zerhouni said in a statement. "It is critical that this review be done in a fair, comprehensive and independent manner."

NIEHS, one of 27 agencies that comprise the National Institutes of Health, carries out research on chemicals and environmental conditions that pose a threat to human health. NTP is a multi-agency program funded by NIH, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

News of the agency review comes weeks after the House approved an appropriations measure that mandates a thorough examination of "numerous incidents at [NIEHS] that call into question the administrative and scientific management of the institute."

The incidents include "areas as diverse as management of scientific journals, employee complaints about performance appraisal systems, alleged conflict of interest by outside contractors hired to operate peer review systems, and improper use of federal funds in office renovation and support staff assignments," reads report language accompanying the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill.
One controversy that has dogged NIEHS in recent months is related to an agency contractor hired to review the human health risks of various chemicals.

Environmental groups charge that the contractor, Sciences International, drafted a report on the risks posed by plasticizer bisphenol-A, despite having employee ties to Dow Chemical Corp., a major manufacturer of the substance. NIH fired Sciences International this spring, citing concerns about the consultant's conflicts of interest.

Another recent controversy surrounds the agency's peer-reviewed journal, Environmental Health Sciences. Earlier this year, NIEHS Director Schwartz suggested cutting the journal's annual budget from $3.5 million to $500,000, prompting an outcry from the scientific community and at least 13 members of Congress (E&E Daily, July 24).

Senator concerned about employee intimidation

Meanwhile, NIEHS is facing increased attention from the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee over reports the agency is retaliating against employees who cooperate with congressional investigations.
In a letter sent Monday, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said he is concerned that a form distributed recently to NIH employees is an attempt to "flush out whistleblowers."

The form asks employees to report if they have been contacted by congressional staff, including the content of any conversation and "doesn't appear to be something that would be handed out to regular NIEHS employees or employees at any of the other NIH institutes," the lawmaker said.

Grassley, who co-authored the federal law that protects whistleblowers, also said he is not satisfied with Zerhouni's response to a July letter that first mentioned the reported retaliation and asked the NIH director "to let NIH employees know that they are within their rights to speak with Congress confidentially."

In his latest letter, Grassley asked Zerhouni to report whether he personally authorized use of the form, which employees received the document and whether it is in use at other NIH institutes.
Asked about the form, agency spokesman Don Ralbovsky said it was for use by "any NIEHS employee who receives a contact from a member of Congress in order that those contacts can be coordinated."