Mary Bassett will step down as director of Harvard’s François‑Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights on Jan. 9, 2026, Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health announced. Dean Andrea Baccarelli said Bassett will remain a professor of practice while Kari Nadeau will serve as interim director. The change follows months of scrutiny of the center’s Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights after complaints that its programming presented a one‑sided view of Israel and Palestinians. Harvard said FXB will narrow its mission to concentrate on children’s health. The move comes amid broader campus tensions over programming tied to the Israel‑Gaza conflict; university leaders have faced external criticism from public figures and internal complaints from students. Harvard did not answer questions about whether Bassett was asked to resign, signaling that the shift is both a personnel change and a strategic reorientation for the center.