Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, a former director at University of Alabama at Birmingham, was put on leave today from her position at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, according to reports, as part of the Trump administration’s mass layoffs of federal health workers.

Marrazzo, who succeeded Dr. Anthony Fauci at the agency in 2023, was told she should not report to work, according to reports by Bloomberg and The New York Times.

She was instead asked to join The Indian Health Service, which provides medical and public health services to members of federally recognized tribes on or near reservations.

According to Bloomberg, Marrazzo was told on Monday by Thomas Nagy, the deputy assistant secretary for human resources at the Department of Health and Human Services, that she was being placed on paid administrative leave.

Marrazzo and other directors were given until Wednesday to decide whether they’ll accept the move to the Indian Health Service, the New York Times reported.

Marrazzo became the first openly gay director at NIAID when she left UAB to replace Fauci.

Before that, she led the division of infectious diseases at UAB for seven years.

She became a media fixture in Alabama during the COVID pandemic, frequently appearing on local and national news outlets to update the public on the latest developments with the virus.

Before COVID-19, Marrazzo was already prominent in the field of infectious diseases, with much of her work focusing on women, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

At the time of her appointment in 2023, Dr. Monica Gandhi, director of the Center for AIDS Research at the University of California at San Francisco, praised Marrazzo’s leadership.

“Her leadership style has really brought the division together at UAB and I have every confidence she can do this as head of NIAID,” she said.