RFK Jr. Reportedly Sent Nearly $800K to a U.S. Based Research Project Linked to Russian Plague Lab

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has reportedly overseen nearly $800,000 in federal funding for a U.S. research project involving a Russian laboratory with ties to the Siberian facility at the center of a suspected plague outbreak.

According to a new investigation by animal testing watchdog White Coat Waste (WCW), the National Institutes of Health awarded $779,689 to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2025 and 2026 for research conducted in partnership with Russia’s state-run Institute of Cytology and Genetics.

Federal records obtained by the group and reported on Wednesday show that the project received $389,943 in July 2025 and another $389,746 in September 2026.

The Russian institute has previously worked on plague research alongside the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute, where a scientist recently died under circumstances that have raised major concerns.

Twenty-eight-year-old researcher Daria Shipilova reportedly fell ill after a Sept. 25 laboratory incident involving a broken test tube. She later died of severe pneumonia, prompting authorities to place nearly 200 people under medical observation.

Russian officials have not confirmed that plague caused her death, and U.S. authorities are monitoring the situation.

President Donald Trump told reporters outside the White House on Tuesday that he “has a call scheduled for very soon” with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the matter.

The NIH-funded research, meanwhile, examines the genetic underpinnings of social behavior using foxes raised at a Siberian breeding facility. According to documents WCW obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, researchers euthanize the animals and transport biological samples to the United States for analysis.

The funding also comes despite a 2022 directive from former President Joe Biden’s administration to wind down federally supported scientific partnerships with Russian government institutions following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

WCW, which previously raised concerns about taxpayer-funded animal experiments in Russia, argued that Kennedy’s department should not have continued supporting the collaboration.

An HHS spokesperson told Mediaite:

White Coat Waste’s characterization of this research is misleading and creates a false impression about how American taxpayer dollars are being spent. HHS is not funding a Russian plague laboratory.

NIH funds research conducted at a U.S.-based laboratory in Chicago examining genomic and protein mechanisms associated with behavior to advance our understanding of psychiatric diseases. NIH funding is directed exclusively to the U.S. laboratory and does not support the Russian laboratory. HHS takes seriously its responsibility to safeguard taxpayer dollars, protect research security, and ensure rigorous oversight of federally funded research.

UPDATE — Oct. 8, 2:18 p.m ET 

This story has been updated to include a statement from HHS.

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