Inside the MAHA Summit: An Ex-Vaxxer’s Take

By Claire Dooley, Special to The MAHA Report

The biotech revolution is here. We get to define how it serves us, not the other way around.

On Wednesday, November 12, at 9:30 a.m., I stood on a line that wrapped around the block outside of the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, DC.

I didn’t bring a coat. I figured I’d just walk right in (classic amateur Southerner move).

Dr. Mimi Lee, one of the minds behind the THRIVE initiative (Treating Hereditary Rare Diseases with In Vivo Precision Genetic Medicines), let me borrow her scarf to keep warm.

Standing next to Dr. Mimi was Shruti Haldea, former Product Line Manager for Apple. Shruti has a biotech startup called Matriarch, which “offers a training regimen for women over 35 who seek to prevent frailty and chronic disease, increase their strength and power, and improve their metabolic health and stamina.” Shruti is the wife of Neil Kumar, CEO of BridgeBio Pharma Inc., a company focused on the development of novel therapies for genetic diseases. She shared that she was excited to attend the conference, as it pertains to her startup Matriarch. Turns out, Mimi and Shruti are actually mutual friends.

After we’d been waiting for about 30 minutes, Kyle Warner, Vice President of MAHA Action, came to the rescue and helped me, the biotech folks, and the activists with me get through the line. As we entered the Waldorf Astoria conference center, we were met by Secret Service security. After the bags were checked and we made it through the metal detectors, we waded through business attire, chatter, and the smell of coffee to the main conference room.

The stage was bright white with large LED panels covered in a blend of pastel blue and green accents. White curtains draped the perimeter of the room. Most of the seats were already taken, but I found my way to some tables nearer to the back. Just so happened there was another empty seat next to Dr. Mimi.

Noelle Callahan, a long time health freedom advocate, sat with me. Because of the long line, we missed the first few panels.

When I sat down, the “Transformation at NIH” Fireside Chat was beginning.

The NIH (National Institutes of Health) is the U.S. government’s medical research agency. It funds and conducts scientific studies to understand, prevent, and treat disease, driving most major biomedical discoveries.

How it differs from others:

• NIH = Research. Studies diseases and develops scientific knowledge.

• CDC = Public health action. Tracks outbreaks, makes health guidelines, and responds to emergencies.

• FDA = Regulation. Approves drugs, vaccines, and food products to ensure they’re safe and effective. Supposedly.

Calley Means, an influential adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the brother of President Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, raised the point that Americans spend three times more on health care, yet our life expectancy is ten years lower than in Japan.

Nicole Kleinstreuer, Deputy Director of the NIH’s Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, expressed hope for a shift at NIH toward leveraging technology in biology and biomedical prevention. She noted that 70 percent of PhDs go to industry and called for radical reform in the scientific review process so that it better supports innovation.

Jay Bhattacharya, Director of NIH, challenged the culture of funding only “safe ideas” that are unlikely to fail, while “transformative ideas” often get discouraged. He said he wants NIH to diversify their research and pursue true science. He specifically pointed to the autism epidemic and said much of the scientific community avoids the topic because of political correctness. He insisted it is not “just genetics” and described a 50 million dollar “autism data science initiative” that aims to dig deeply into the epidemic.

He also said that pharmaceuticals should be as safe and effective as possible for those who choose to use them. He mentioned interest in cancer research, noting that funding has been allocated for that area as well. During the panel, someone also brought up the issue of the “revolving door,” where government officials who are supposed to regulate drug safety later go work for the same companies they once oversaw.

Calley Means returned to the point that the current system profits from people being sick and insisted this must change.

The next panel I attended was “MABA: Making American Biotechnology Accelerate.”

Within the health freedom space, hearing the word “Accelerate” immediately raises red flags.

Sam Kulkarni, CEO of CRISPR Therapeutics, created a “cure” for sickle cell disease. Though the treatment is still wildly unaffordable for the average person, at 2.2 million for a one time treatment.

Dr. Mimi Lee explained that she had worked with ARPA-H, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, a high-risk, high-reward health initiative under HHS. Congress appropriated roughly 1.5 billion dollars to ARPA-H across several years. THRIVE is a contractor rather than a grant-funded project, meaning it is not dependent on traditional grant cycles. They embed a patient advocate in every meeting. Dr. Lee told me that rare genetic disease infrastructure is weak, which is why patient advocacy must be integrated from the beginning.

She has since moved on from ARPA-H and now serves as the program manager of THRIVE, which I describe as a functional model for gene therapies, essentially an effort to streamline how genetic treatments are developed, tested, and delivered. Lee argued that patients with rare genetic diseases face a major gap: there is no reliable infrastructure to support diagnosis, data-sharing, or long-term care.

She pointed to Citizen Health, a company working to organize patient data and accelerate access to treatments. The need, she emphasized, is enormous. One in ten people in the U.S. is living with a “rare” disease, roughly 30 million Americans, and more than half of them are children.

In the health freedom space, many diseases are seen as genetically influenced but triggered or modified by environmental factors. This is where epigenetics comes in: the study of how environmental exposures can switch genes on or off or alter how they are expressed, without changing the underlying DNA sequence.

Examples of such triggers include DNA impurities reportedly found in the COVID shots (as noted by Dr. Jessica Rose and Kevin McKernan), certain vaccine ingredients like thimerosal, polysorbate 80, and animal proteins, as well as environmental exposures during development, such as unsafe pesticides in our food supply or endocrine-disrupting chemicals in household products. These factors can interact with genetic predispositions, potentially influencing the risk or severity of disease.

While I believe our priority should be uncovering and addressing the causes of disease, people like Dr. Mimi still deserve a place in shaping the future of medicine.

After all, once the “damage has been done,” why wouldn’t we want to explore potential treatments and ways to help those already affected? Holistic treatments should absolutely be both an option and a priority, but that doesn’t mean we should dismiss other approaches if a patient chooses to pursue them.

Wouldn’t it be a small step forward to be able to genetically test someone to determine if they are susceptible to vaccine injury, if someone wishes to vaccinate?

George Yancopoulos, of Regeneron, spoke about the potential of AI to revolutionize health care, and in that context he said the DNA sequencing of every person could dramatically accelerate medical breakthroughs. He emphasized that any such system would need to remain optional.

But where would this data live? Who would have access to it? Would the patient be in control of their data? Could our own data be used against us? Where is the line drawn? This isn’t paranoia. In the wake of the damage of the pharmaceutical industry’s lack of accountability, fear is totally warranted.

As a MAHA mom, I believe it’s up to us to draw that line. We have to DEMAND a seat at the table and cement in healthcare FOREVER the patient advocate.

In a review of 59 studies on cancer treatment, patient navigation (a form of patient advocacy) was associated with significantly better outcomes:  70% of studies found faster treatment initiation, 71% saw improved treatment adherence, and 81% reported better quality-of-care indicators. Source

Dr. Lee’s work with THRIVE, where a patient advocate is in every meeting, is one example of what that future could look like. She also emphasized data privacy.

The pharmaceutical industry is already entangled in the accountability that MAHA is bringing. As it continues to fail at making America healthy, it will be replaced with a system.

Is this a system in which we, as patients or stakeholders, want to have a voice in how it’s governed?

If the CEO of CRISPR is willing to come and talk with us, why would we shy away?

Would I tell my children and grandchildren that we “beat the bullies” (aka Pharma) but we completely ignored the growing infrastructure and healthcare that is the biotech industry? Would I tell them we were too “scared” to make deals with them?

I spoke with scientist James Lyons-Weiler (also a contributor to The MAHA Report here on Substack), and here’s what he had to say:

“There is a big difference between being anti-corporatism and anti-corporate. It is 2025, and everyone should know that the MAHA movement will remain ever-vigilant to ensure that the processes and practices that led to regulatory capture will not be tolerated by the awake and aware public. As long as Sec. Kennedy is in office, I doubt we have much to worry about but as Tony Lyons has said, it is our right to disagree and speak up about issues we have concerns about.”

RFK Jr. and JD Vance then took the stage for a fireside chat. You can watch the full segment here.

As a Mississippi native, I appreciated that part of the conversation focused on who suffers most from pharmaceutical and industrial chemical harms: the poor and working class. This hits close to home. My own family has been affected by cancer, obesity, weakened immune systems, and heart problems. It was validating to feel that my experiences were understood. I would have liked more in-depth discussion on solutions, but the conversation was intentionally casual and lighthearted. Perhaps that was exactly what was needed.

I stepped into the hallway and stood next to a snack table, full of hummus, dips, and fresh veggies. Of course, there was what appeared to be a tricolor chip plate, among those colors was bright (and clearly red 40) chips.

“What a good MAHA test,” I joked with the guy next to me. Funny enough, they remained largely untouched.

Chuckling with me was David Light of Valisure, “a pioneering technology company at the forefront of addressing a critical gap in the healthcare supply chain through independent quality assurance.”

David shared with me that his company did post consumer testing of common generic sunscreen brands and found that they contained a known carcinogen.

Bloomberg did a piece on Valisure that can be found here.

“The event drew key figures from across the movement—including pioneers who have championed health freedom and transparency for more than 40 years, such as Dr. Sherry Tenpenny, who has long warned the public about vaccines,” said Liana Werner-Gray, cancer survivor and creator of the Earth Diet.

Zen Honeycutt of Moms Across America, an organization focused on cleaning up food and consumer products, also attended the summit. Reflecting on the event, she noted: “Many were justified in being highly skeptical about the inclusion of CRISPR, AI, and Neuralink representatives at the tech-focused MAHA Summit. While we believe that careful consideration and clear regulation of these technologies is essential, we were glad to see that the presentations at the event centered on supporting breakthroughs for people with severe disabilities and debilitating diseases.”

Later at the Summit, I spoke with many powerful people about vaccine injury. And perhaps some laughed about it later. But I know some took it to heart.

I spoke with Lee Rosebush, who owns Outsourcing Facilities Association, a “trade association representing FDA-registered 503B outsourcing facilities, which focus on providing hospitals, physicians and patients with critically needed compounded medications.”

We spoke at length about vaccine injuries, and he let me know that in their networks, they have providers who treat vaccine injured even in my home state in Mississippi.

I later met Bryan “Don’t Die” Johnson. I told him some MAHA folks might feel uneasy about him being here. Despite critics saying he is reaching for immortality, he told me he is “okay” with dying, just not right now.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. After all, it really is NOT that deep. I made a documentary called Beyond Humanity about the merging of humans and machines, you can watch it here.

Russell Brand then took the stage for an “Eloquent Rant.”

“The summit concluded with an impactful message from Russell Brand, who brilliantly pointed out the absurdity of putting ‘junk’ and ‘food’ in the same sentence, because it simply does not belong there,” said Liana Werner-Grey

There were panels I missed while having these conversations, like “How AI Is Transforming Healthcare” or “The MAHA Athlete,” but what I gathered is this:

Biotech wants a seat at the table with MAHA, who has now gathered a powerful voting base. Not to profit off sickness, but to profit off people becoming healthy. That alone is not a negative thing. The real question is how we can engage without selling out the core values of the MAHA and health freedom movements.

I trust that with Tony Lyons and the team behind MAHA Action leading this effort, the movement will not lose its grounding. We have big dreams. That requires conversations with people who have big reach.

The future of health care is being built right now. The only question is whether we help design it or let someone else decide for us.

We stand at a crossroads: will we let an emerging health-tech industry dictate our future, or will we demand a seat at the table, shape the system, and protect the vulnerable?

I will not relent until every vaccine-injured person is acknowledged, vindicated, and truly cared for. I will fight until vaccine injury is nothing more than a dark chapter in history. And I trust the team at MAHA Action to stand beside me in this venture.

“It is apparent that the MAHA Holding company is committed to partnering with private and government partners to create breakthroughs in health in a timely manner,” said Zen Honeycutt. “The era of waiting 30-50 years for advances in science and health are over.The time is now.”