{"id":1450379,"date":"2022-04-22T13:14:37","date_gmt":"2022-04-22T17:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1450379"},"modified":"2022-04-22T13:15:00","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T17:15:00","slug":"secretive-committee-on-risky-virus-research-should-be-more-open-chair-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/secretive-committee-on-risky-virus-research-should-be-more-open-chair-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Secretive Committee On Risky Virus Research Should Be More Open, Chair Says"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsecretive-committee-on-risky-virus-research-should-be-more-open-chair-says%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1450379&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ebola-scaled-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>The secret committee created to oversee federally funded \u201cgain of function\u201d research that can make dangerous viruses even more deadly should be more transparent in its review process, according to the chairman of that committee, House Republicans revealed this week.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201creview process continues to be unnecessarily shrouded in secrecy,\u201d wrote House Committee on Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., in a <a href=\"https:\/\/republicans-energycommerce.house.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4.19.22-Letter-to-HHS-Secretary-Becerra.pdf\">letter<\/a> to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra.<\/p>\n<p>Gain-of-function research projects are supposed to be reviewed by a committee as part of guidelines known as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.phe.gov\/s3\/dualuse\/documents\/p3co.pdf\">Potential Pandemic Pathogens Control and Oversight<\/a>\u00a0(P3CO) Framework, created in 2017 after a three-year pause on such research following several lab-related incidents that raised public concerns.<\/p>\n<p>Chris Hassell, the chairman of the P3CO virus research review committee and its only public member, \u201cacknowledged a strong interest in improving the transparency of the HHS P3CO review process and the need for more transparency,\u201d according to the letter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNone of the HHS departmental review process for approving enhanced PPP [Potential Pandemic Pathogens] experiments is public,\u201d the letter states. \u201cHHS review should make public who participates in the review, as well as the basis of the decision that the research is acceptable to fund, including the U.S. government\u2019s (USG\u2019s) calculation of the potential benefits and risks of the proposed enhanced PPP research.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>HHS gave House Republicans the names of some but not all review committee members, \u201con a confidential basis because of personal security concerns,\u201d the letter states.<\/p>\n<h2>NIH Won\u2019t Even Say How Much Research Gets Funded<\/h2>\n<p>Indicating the lack of transparency, National Institutes of Health officials <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/nation\/interactive\/2021\/a-science-in-the-shadows\/\">will not disclose<\/a> how many gain-of-function projects they have funded.<\/p>\n<p>When Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was asked how many gain-of-function grants his agency had approved, he said \u201cthe answer would hinge on how the work was defined in a given year,\u201d The Washington Post reported in August.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo the extent that we can be transparent, that the system would allow us to be transparent, we go overboard to be transparent,\u201d Fauci also said.<\/p>\n<h2>Little Action in Two Years<\/h2>\n<p>Hassell has previously <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/04\/04\/nih-gain-of-function-anthony-fauci-review-board-wuhan-lab\/?filter_by=featured&#038;utm_content=82621098&#038;utm_medium=social&#038;utm_source=facebook&#038;hss_channel=fbp-225612270801893\">said<\/a> he believes the definition of the research the committee reviews is \u201ctoo narrow.\u201d Hassell made those remarks in January 2020 \u2014 now, more than two years after the Covid-19 pandemic began, that definition remains the same.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, Fauci and other NIH staff were responsible for narrowing the definition of the research the committee reviewed and for weakening the committee\u2019s oversight, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/nation\/interactive\/2021\/a-science-in-the-shadows\/\">according<\/a> to The Post.<\/p>\n<p>Many scientists fear to speak out against gain-of-function research because they receive funding from the NIH.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Conflicts of Interest<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Last month, the NIH asked the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) to evaluate the effectiveness of the HHS P3CO framework for reviewing gain-of-function research, but the House Republicans object that the board is not independent enough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe think it appropriate to reconstitute NSABB as an independent entity rather than a group of individuals replete with conflicts-of-interest given the source of grants to them, or to convene an independent body,\u201d Rodger\u2019s letter states.<\/p>\n<p>Like its oversight board, some members of the P3CO review board itself may also have conflicts of interest \u2014 one is from the NIAID, a funding entity. \u201cFurther, this individual co-authored articles with a principal investigator who was engaged in research proposals that could have been subject to HHS P3CO review,\u201d according to the letter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnother member is a gain-of-function research proponent who was apparently deeply involved in the development of the framework. This raises obvious questions of bias in favor of approving incredibly risky research.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Possible Gain of Function Research Not Reviewed<\/h2>\n<p>The review committee also lacks jurisdiction and can be bypassed by funding agencies, the House Republicans wrote.<\/p>\n<p>An example of a grant the committee did not review is one that sent U.S. taxpayer money to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is considered a possible origin of Covid-19. The NIAID\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/04\/04\/nih-gain-of-function-anthony-fauci-review-board-wuhan-lab\/?filter_by=featured&#038;utm_content=82621098&#038;utm_medium=social&#038;utm_source=facebook&#038;hss_channel=fbp-225612270801893\">decided<\/a>\u00a0its grant to the EcoHealth Alliance for bat-based coronavirus research did\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nih.gov\/about-nih\/who-we-are\/nih-director\/statements\/statement-misinformation-about-nih-support-specific-gain-function-research\">not<\/a>\u00a0meet the definition of gain of function and thus was not submitted to the committee, but an NIAID official and others have <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/01\/19\/fauci-helped-loosen-already-weak-rules-for-risky-virus-research\/\">questioned<\/a> whether it was gain of function.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis unilateral NIAID authority shows a lack of independence in the P3CO process and raises significant concerns,\u201d the Republicans wrote.<\/p>\n<h2>Panel Members Say Its Oversight Is Weak<\/h2>\n<p>What little we know from another committee member affirms the panel <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/01\/19\/fauci-helped-loosen-already-weak-rules-for-risky-virus-research\/\">lacks power and has reviewed few projects<\/a>. Robert Kadlec, who previously was chair of the review committee, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/nation\/interactive\/2021\/a-science-in-the-shadows\/\">said<\/a>, \u201cFrankly, we didn\u2019t have the scientific wherewithal.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The review committee\u2019s capabilities were not \u201crobust enough to make sure that bad things don\u2019t happen,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>From 2017 to 2020, no more than \u201cthree or four\u201d projects were forwarded to the review committee, according to Kadlec. \u201cThey were grading their own homework.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Post identified at least 18 projects from 2012 to 2020, totaling about $48.8 million, with eight approved after 2017, that appeared to be gain-of-function research.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever, only one proposal initiated since 2017 has been referred to the HHS P3CO review committee, with two other proposals that existed before 2017 also referred to the committee. Thus, we are concerned that NIH is under referring proposals to the HHS P3CO review committee,\u201d Republicans wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Before his retirement as director of the NIH in December, Dr. Francis Collins said he was open to making public the names of members of the committee. Such a move would help officials to achieve \u201cthe kind of transparency that the public expects\u201d regarding such research, Collins <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/nation\/interactive\/2021\/a-science-in-the-shadows\/\">told<\/a> The Post.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  Eleanor Bartow is the features editor at The Federalist. She was an editor and investigative reporter at the Daily Caller, editor-in-chief of the American Enterprise Institute\u2019s magazine, and a reporter for Congressional Quarterly. Her articles have been published with The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, Real Clear Investigations, The American Spectator, and others. She has been interviewed on Fox News Radio, National Public Radio, OANN, and more. She received a Fulbright Professional Grant in Journalism and was a fellow with the Claremont Institute and National Review Institute. Follow her on Twitter at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elliebartow\">@elliebartow<\/a>.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The secret committee created to oversee federally funded \u201cgain of function\u201d research that can make dangerous viruses even more deadly should be more transparent in its review process, according to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":686,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1450379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1450379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/686"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1450379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1450379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1450379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1450379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1450379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}