{{Short description|American endocrinologist}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Dorothy Fink | image = Dorothy-Fink.jpg | caption = Official portrait, 2025 | office = Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health | status = | president = Donald Trump | predecessor = | 1blankname = Secretary | 1namedata = Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | successor = Incumbent | term_start = November 11, 2025 | term_end = | office2 = Assistant Secretary for Health | status2 = Acting | president2 = Donald Trump | predecessor2 = Leith J. States (acting)<br/>Rachel Levine | 1blankname2 = Secretary | 1namedata2 = Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | successor2 = Brian Christine | term_start2 = May 26, 2025 | term_end2 = November 10, 2025 | office3 = United States Secretary of Health and Human Services | term_label3 = Acting | term_start3 = January 20, 2025 | term_end3 = February 13, 2025 | president3 = Donald Trump | predecessor3 = Xavier Becerra | successor3 = Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | education = Georgetown University (BS, MD) | spouse = Michael Pacold }} '''Dorothy Alanna Fink''' is an American endocrinologist and government official who serves as the principal deputy assistant secretary for health since November 2025. She previously served as the acting assistant secretary for health from May 2025 to November 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |title=OASH Leadership {{!}} Health.gov |url=https://health.gov/about-oash/oash-leadership |access-date=May 31, 2025 |website=health.gov |language=en}}</ref> She previously served as the acting United States secretary of health and human services from January to February 2025. She is also the director of the Office on Women's Health in the Department of Health and Human Services.
==Early life and education== Fink is the daughter of Robert and Karen Fink of Johnstown, Pennsylvania,<ref name="auto">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2003/05/18/first-lady-says-focus-on-service/40d29962-c853-4ab3-a23d-a933ac6e0baa/|newspaper=The Washington Post|via=archive.ph|title=First Lady Says Focus on Service|author=Murphy, Caryle|date=May 17, 2003|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250123030533/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2003/05/18/first-lady-says-focus-on-service/40d29962-c853-4ab3-a23d-a933ac6e0baa/|archive-date=January 23, 2025}}</ref> where she graduated from Westmont Hilltop High School in 1999.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sutor |first=Dave |date=February 6, 2025 |title=Westmont Hilltop graduate is acting secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services |url=https://www.tribdem.com/cnhi_network/westmont-hilltop-graduate-is-acting-secretary-of-u-s-department-of-health-and-human-services/article_606b5f10-e4df-11ef-abfe-1f3c6ed8ab54.html |access-date=February 19, 2025 |website=The Tribune-Democrat |language=en}}</ref> She attended Georgetown University where she focused on health studies.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://womenshealth.gov/about-us/who-we-are/leadership/dr-dorothy-fink|publisher=WomensHealth.gov|title=Dorothy Fink, M.D.}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> She received several awards as a student at Georgetown, including one for outstanding undergraduate research in chemistry, and she was also a ''USA Today'' Academic All-American.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://chemistry.georgetown.edu/undergraduate/awards/past-award-winners/|publisher=Georgetown University|title=Past Award Winners {{!}} Department of Chemistry}}</ref> Fink once featured as a contestant on the Jan 17, 2007 episode of the long-running American television game show ''The Price Is Right''.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ugvuUmli6I |title=The Price is Right {{!}} 1/17/07 |date=October 4, 2012 |last=thewhammy83 |access-date=February 25, 2025 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
Fink received her medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine. She completed her combined internal medicine and pediatrics residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She then completed a National Institutes of Health post-doctoral fellowship in endocrinology and metabolism at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. During her fellowship, Fink was selected as a Women's Health Scholar and worked at the Center for Menopause, Hormonal Disorders and Women's Health. She has authored or co-authored 11 peer-reviewed articles on topics that include thromboembolic disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis.<ref name="auto1"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Fink Dorothy - Search Results - PubMed |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Fink+Dorothy&sort=date |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=PubMed |language=en}}</ref> Fink's h-index, a measure of her scholarly productivity and scientific impact, is reported to be 11.<ref>{{Cite web |title=OpenAlex |url=https://openalex.org/authors/a5113511714 |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=openalex.org}}</ref>
Fink is board certified in endocrinology, internal medicine, and pediatrics, and is recognized as a physician leader on topics such as diabetes, nutrition, and bone health. Previously, her clinical practice focused on women from adolescence through menopause and beyond. She is a nationally certified menopause practitioner and an expert on estrogen. She has presented at several national meetings and has practiced at the Hospital for Special Surgery and the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Cornell University.<ref name="auto1"/>
== Government official ==
=== First Trump administration === In 2018, Fink was appointed by President Donald Trump as the deputy assistant secretary for women's health.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/01/19/trump-hhs-appointments-interim-secretary/|newspaper=The Washington Post|title=Trump team taps Dorothy Fink to serve as interim HHS secretary|author=Diamond, Dan|date=January 20, 2025|via=archive.ph|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250120042103/https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/01/19/trump-hhs-appointments-interim-secretary/|archive-date=January 20, 2025}}</ref> In this role, Fink addressed the United Nations as part of the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review, a process that reviews the human rights records of member states, on the importance of reducing health disparities in minority populations.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7eBsXeB6lo |title=Statement by Dr. Dorothy Fink, HHS, at the UPR of the United States |date=November 9, 2020 |last=U.S. Mission Geneva |access-date=February 27, 2025 |via=YouTube}}</ref> She also became the director of the Office on Women's Health in the Department of Health and Human Services,<ref name="auto1"/> lecturing on the importance of enhancing immunization culture, improving vaccine uptake, and combating vaccine misinformation.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4TKuQO_bAc |title=HSC Speakers Bureau: Women's Health feat. Dr. Dorothy Fink |date=November 5, 2020 |last=UNT Health Science Center |access-date=February 27, 2025 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
=== Second Trump administration ===
==== Acting Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services ==== {{Cleanup rewrite|date=February 2025|2=section}} On January 20, 2025, Fink was named by President Trump as the acting United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, as his nominee for the position, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., had not yet been approved by the Senate.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/pharma-and-life-sciences/trump-chooses-womens-health-leader-for-acting-hhs-secretary|publisher=Bloomberg Law|title=Trump Chooses Women's Health Leader for Acting HHS Secretary|author=Lopez, Ian|date=January 20, 2025}}</ref> She immediately issued a January 21 memo titled "Immediate Pause on Issuing Documents and Publication Communications" <ref>{{Cite web |title=Acting HHS Secretary Communications Memo 1-21-25 |url=https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25502931-acting-hhs-secretary-communications-memo-1-21-25/ |access-date=2025-02-20 |website=www.documentcloud.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Federal health agencies told to halt all external communications |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/01/22/nx-s1-5270866/hhs-cdc-health-communications-trump |access-date=February 20, 2025 |work=NPR |language=en}}</ref> forbidding U.S. health agency personnel from sending any document intended for publication to the Office of the ''Federal Register'' until it has been reviewed and approved by a presidential appointee, publicly issuing any document or communication until it has been approved by a presidential appointee, and participating in public speaking engagements until the event and material have been reviewed and approved by a presidential appointee through February 1, 2025. The memo also required that health agency personnel coordinate with presidential appointees prior to issuing official correspondence to public officials, including that containing interpretations or statements of department regulations or policy. The effect of the action was to bring the work of HHS agencies (most importantly the CDC, NIH, and FDA) to a virtual halt.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Trump hits NIH with 'devastating' freezes on meetings, travel, communications, and hiring |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-hits-nih-devastating-freezes-meetings-travel-communications-and-hiring |access-date=2025-01-26 |website=www.science.org |language=en}}</ref> Despite the February 1, 2025 expiration of the directives included in Fink's January 21 memo, the blocking of submissions to the ''Federal Register'' persists as of March 2, 2025, essentially halting all federal biomedical and public health research funding agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH).<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Clark |first=Cheryl |date=February 19, 2025 |title=Federal Register Blackout Blocks NIH Funding |url=https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/114284 |access-date=February 20, 2025 |website=Medpage Today}}</ref>
On February 7, 2025, under the direction of Fink as acting HHS Secretary, the National Institutes of Health issued new guidance on NIH grants<ref>{{Cite web |title=NOT-OD-25-068: Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates |url=https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-25-068.html |access-date=February 19, 2025 |website=grants.nih.gov}}</ref> setting new, reduced, rates of support for the indirect costs of institutions performing NIH-sponsored research.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AcademyHealth Situation Report: NIH abruptly slashing indirect grants. What this means for researchers. {{!}} AcademyHealth |url=https://academyhealth.org/blog/2025-02/academyhealth-situation-report-nih-abruptly-slashing-indirect-grants-what-means-researchers |access-date=February 19, 2025 |website=academyhealth.org}}</ref> Critics of the NIH policy shift included leading scientific and medical associations, with the sudden loss of funding described as "devastating", "apocalyptic", "disastrous" and "catastrophic".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kozlov |first1=Max |last2=Garisto |first2=Dan |last3=Ledford |first3=Heidi |date=February 10, 2025 |title='Devastating' cuts to NIH grants by Trump's team put on hold by US judge |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00436-1 |journal=Nature |language=en |doi=10.1038/d41586-025-00436-1 |pmid=39930050 |issn=1476-4687|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Park |first=Alice |date=February 11, 2025 |title=Experts Call NIH Budget Cuts an 'Apocalypse' for Science |url=https://time.com/7216299/nih-budget-cuts-science-research-funding/ |access-date=February 19, 2025 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=NIH slashes overhead payments for research, sparking outrage and lawsuit |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/nih-slashes-overhead-payments-research-sparking-outrage |access-date=February 19, 2025 |website=www.science.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Nietzel |first=Michael T. |title=NIH Cuts Back Its Payment Of Indirect Costs For University Research |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2025/02/08/nih-cuts-back-its-payment-of-indirect-costs-for-university-research/ |access-date=February 19, 2025 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=AAMC Statement on Drastic Cuts to NIH-Funded Research |url=https://www.aamc.org/news/press-releases/aamc-statement-drastic-cuts-nih-funded-research |access-date=February 19, 2025 |website=AAMC |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Galea |first1=Sandro |last2=Bibbins-Domingo |first2=Kirsten |date=February 18, 2025 |title=The Value of Academic Health Research |journal=JAMA Health Forum |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=e250509 |doi=10.1001/jamahealthforum.2025.0509 |issn=2689-0186|doi-access=free |pmid=39964341 }}</ref> In response to the cuts, lawsuits were filed by attorneys general of twenty-two states, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Association of American Universities, and other organizations representing leading biomedical research institutions, seeking an injunction to prevent the cuts from taking effect.<ref>{{Cite web |last=LLP |first=Latham & Watkins |date=February 13, 2025 |title=The NIH Funding Cuts: Implications and Status of Lawsuits |url=https://www.lathamreg.com/2025/02/the-nih-funding-cuts-implications-and-status-of-lawsuits/ |access-date=February 19, 2025 |website=The Trump Administration: First 100 Days |language=en-US}}</ref>
On February 10, 2025, U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley from the District of Massachusetts granted the plaintiff's motion for a temporary restraining order blocking Fink's policy from taking effect as planned.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chen |first=Jonathan Wosen, Angus |date=February 10, 2025 |title=Federal judge halts Trump administration cuts to NIH research payments in 22 states |url=https://www.statnews.com/2025/02/10/nih-indirect-costs-lawsuit-state-attorneys-general-sue-to-block-research-spending-cuts/ |access-date=February 19, 2025 |website=STAT |language=en-US}}</ref> Fink, a named co-defendant in multiple lawsuits,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. National Institutes of Health, 1:25-cv-10338 - CourtListener.com |url=https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69625055/commonwealth-of-massachusetts/ |access-date=February 20, 2025 |website=CourtListener |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Association of American Universities v. Department of Health & Human Services, 1:25-cv-10346 - CourtListener.com |url=https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69627688/association-of-american-universities-v-department-of-health-human/ |access-date=February 20, 2025 |website=CourtListener |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Association of American Medical Colleges v. National Institutes of Health, 1:25-cv-10340 - CourtListener.com |url=https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69626752/association-of-american-medical-colleges-v-national-institutes-of-health/ |access-date=February 20, 2025 |website=CourtListener |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69561497/state-of-new-jersey-v-trump/ |access-date=February 20, 2025 |website=www.courtlistener.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69560537/national-treasury-employees-union-v-trump/ |access-date=February 20, 2025 |website=www.courtlistener.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69585994/state-of-new-york-v-trump/ |access-date=February 20, 2025 |website=www.courtlistener.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=DEI executive orders lawsuit 02032025 |url=https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25524621-dei-executive-orders-lawsuit-02032025/ |access-date=February 20, 2025 |website=www.documentcloud.org |language=en}}</ref> filed a brief in opposition to the restraining order defending the drastic cuts in NIH funding.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Association of American Medical Colleges v. National Institutes of Health, 1:25-cv-10340 - CourtListener.com |url=https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69626752/association-of-american-medical-colleges-v-national-institutes-of-health/ |access-date=February 19, 2025 |website=CourtListener |language=en-us}}</ref> After a February 21 hearing, Judge Kelley extended the temporary restraining order pending a final ruling,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nietzel |first=Michael T. |title=Federal Judge Extends TRO Against NIH Cap On Indirect Cost Payments |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2025/02/21/federal-judge-extends-tro-against-nih-cap-on-indirect-cost-payments/ |access-date=February 25, 2025 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> but major scientific research institutions have already begun to shutter laboratories, pause or rescind graduate student admissions,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Knott |first=Katherine |title=Colleges Restrict Graduate Student Admissions After NIH Proposes Rate Cut |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/science-research-policy/2025/02/25/facing-nih-cuts-colleges-restrict-grad-student |access-date=February 27, 2025 |website=Inside Higher Ed |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ryan |first=Isha Chitirala, Finn |title=Penn to reduce graduate admissions, rescind acceptances amid federal research funding cuts |url=https://www.thedp.com/article/2025/02/penn-graduate-student-class-size-cut-trump-funding |access-date=February 27, 2025 |website=www.thedp.com |language=en-us}}</ref> and freeze hiring and spending in anticipation of what they view to be a potentially catastrophic policy taking effect, as well as other cuts in federal funding related to science and public health made by Executive orders issued by President Donald Trump or at the discretion of the Department of Government Efficiency.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Spencer |title=Columbia's medical school pauses spending and hiring amid NIH cuts |url=https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/02/18/columbias-medical-school-pauses-spending-and-hiring-amid-nih-cuts/ |access-date=February 19, 2025 |website=Columbia Daily Spectator}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=February 13, 2025 |title=Boston University, MIT tighten budgets as they brace for federal funding cuts |url=https://www.wgbh.org/news/education-news/2025-02-13/boston-university-mit-tighten-budgets-as-they-brace-for-federal-funding-cuts |access-date=February 19, 2025 |website=GBH |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Immediate Measures to Address Financial Challenges: Leadership Notes - Northwestern University |url=https://www.northwestern.edu/leadership-notes/2025/immediate-measures-to-address-financial-challenges.html |access-date=February 19, 2025 |website=www.northwestern.edu |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=WRAL Staff |date=February 14, 2025 |title=NC State hiring freeze: Faculty, staff positions on hold amid federal budget uncertainty |url=https://www.wral.com/news/education/nc-state-hiring-freeze-february-2025/ |access-date=February 19, 2025 |website=WRAL.com |language=en}}</ref> On March 5, 2025, Judge Kelley ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, argued that NIH violated federal law and did not "contemplate the risk to human life as research and clinical trials are suspended in response" or "the life, careers, and advancement that will be lost as these budgets are indiscriminately slashed..."<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. judge blocks NIH's plan to slash overhead cost payments |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/u-s-judge-blocks-nih-s-plan-slash-overhead-cost-payments |access-date=March 5, 2025 |website=www.science.org |language=en}}</ref>
On February 18, 2025, it was reported that Fink and colleagues at HHS employed a new tactic to circumvent court orders enjoining the Trump administration's executive actions freezing Federal funding and cutting Congressionally allocated NIH-sponsored research. A leaked internal email sent to NIH personnel forbids NIH staff from submitting meeting notices to the ''Federal Register'', the official journal of the United States Federal Government.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 18, 2025 |title=Federal Register hold makes 'end run' around court pause on NIH funding freeze |url=https://www.thetransmitter.org/funding/federal-register-hold-makes-end-run-around-court-pause-on-nih-funding-freeze/ |access-date=February 19, 2025 |website=The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> Meetings of study sections and advisory councils staffed by leading scientific expertise, which are responsible for reviewing NIH funding proposals and providing guidance to NIH on funding priorities, are required by law to post meeting plans in the ''Federal Register'' 15 days in advance of their scheduled date. Without being able to post meeting schedules in the ''Federal Register'', new NIH grants cannot be reviewed or awarded.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kozlov |first=Max |date=February 20, 2025 |title=Revealed: NIH research grants still frozen despite lawsuits challenging Trump order |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00540-2 |journal=Nature |volume=638 |issue=8052 |pages=870–871 |language=en |doi=10.1038/d41586-025-00540-2 |pmid=39979573 |bibcode=2025Natur.638..870K |issn=1476-4687|url-access=subscription }}</ref> As of March 5, 2025, no announcements of advisory council meetings have been posted, an action effectively halting the NIH grant award process.
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Xavier Becerra}} {{s-ttl|title=United States Secretary of Health and Human Services<br />{{small|Acting}}|years=2025}} {{s-aft|after=Robert F. Kennedy Jr.}} {{s-gov}} {{s-bef|before=Leith J. States<br />{{small|(Acting)}}}} {{s-ttl|title=Assistant Secretary for Health<br />{{small|Acting}}|years=2025}} {{s-aft|after=Brian Christine}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fink, Dorothy}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:People from Johnstown, Pennsylvania Category:Georgetown University alumni Category:Georgetown University School of Medicine alumni Category:American women endocrinologists Category:First Trump administration personnel Category:Second Trump administration cabinet members Category:United States secretaries of health and human services