"The leader of DHHS should continue to nurture and improve — not threaten — these important and highly respected institutions."

Elevating Mr. Kennedy to secretary of H.H.S. “would put the public’s health in jeopardy,” more than 75 laureates wrote.

Among the 77 laureates who signed the letter were Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, who were awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of microRNA, and Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson , who won the 2024 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics Sciences for research on global inequality.