A congressional investigation found that EcoHealth Alliance and Daszak facilitated gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China, without proper oversight.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has formally banned pandemic research nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance and its former president, Peter Daszak, from receiving federal funding for five years.
The House Oversight Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic revealed the decision on Jan. 17, providing a letter from HHS to EcoHealth Alliance—along with a separate letter to Daszak.
“After considering the information in the administrative record in this matter, including the information presented in the above-mentioned responses, I have determined that a period of debarment for Dr. Daszak is necessary to protect the Federal Government’s business interests,” an HHS official, whose name was redacted, wrote in one of the letters.
The other letter featured a nearly identical justification.
The subcommittee said its investigation found that EcoHealth Alliance and Daszak facilitated gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China, without proper oversight and violated multiple requirements of their multimillion-dollar National Institutes of Health grant.
Gain-of-function research consists of manipulating viruses under laboratory conditions to make them more virulent so they can be studied more effectively by scientists. The practice is highly controversial as it results in more lethal viruses that could wreak havoc on humanity if they escape the lab, as some contend—including U.S. intelligence agencies—the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic did.
In a report released in May 2024 that detailed the investigation’s findings, the subcommittee recommended that EcoHealth Alliance and Daszak be debarred and criminally investigated. On Jan. 17, HHS suspended funding for EcoHealth and proposed debarment.
“Justice for the American people was served today,“ Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a Jan. 17 statement. ”Bad actor EcoHealth Alliance and its corrupt former President, Dr. Peter Daszak, were formally debarred by HHS for using taxpayer funds to facilitate dangerous gain-of-function research in China. Today’s decision is not only a victory for the U.S. taxpayer, but also for American national security and the safety of citizens worldwide.”
By Tom Ozimek
