From 1990 to 1992, Bright worked as a product manager in the Research & Development Department of Osborn Laboratories in Olathe, Kansas. From 1994 to 1995, he was a research assistant in the Flow Cytometry Department of the Alabama Reference Lab in Montgomery, Alabama. From 1997 to 2000, Bright worked at the Emory University Department of Microbiology and Immunology and in the Vaccine Research Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1998 to 2002, Bright worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, in the Influenza Branch, Immunology and Viral Pathogenesis Section, where he studied Influenza A virus subtype H5N1. From 2002 to 2003, Bright shifted to working at the pharmaceutical company, Altea Therapeutics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was a senior research scientist in their Vaccine and Immunology Programs. In 2003, Bright rejoined the CDC as an immunologist/virologist in their Disease Control and Prevention, Influenza Division, Strain Surveillance Branch in Atlanta, Georgia, where he worked on their influenza antiviral drug program and focused on avian influenza. He held that position until 2006. From 2006 to 2008, Bright returned to working in the private sector of the biotechnology industry at Novavax in Maryland, where he was vice president of their global influenza programs as well as of their vaccine research and development. For his work there, he was an adviser to the WHO and the U.S. Department of Defense and became the recipient of the prestigious Charles C. Shepard Science Award for Scientific Excellence, jointly awarded by the CDC and the WHO. During that time, he also participated in World Health Organization committees on vaccine development and pandemic preparedness. In February 2008, Bright worked at the non-profit PATH on a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant funded project as the director in vaccine manufacturing capacity building in Viet Nam. He was also the scientific director of the influenza vaccine project as well as the global vaccine development program, a position he held until October 2010. In 2010, Bright joined the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services governmental agency Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. He was the program lead of BARDA International Programs, then in June 2011 became acting chief of the influenza antiviral drug advanced development program, a position he held until December 2011. From June 2011 to December 2015, he was both deputy director and acting director of BARDA's Influenza and Emerging Diseases Division, eventually serving as director of the division from December 2014 to November 2016. From February 2016 to November 2016, he was an incident commander in the ASPR/BARDA Zika Response. On November 15, 2016, President Obama appointed Bright to the position of Director of BARDA. Bright succeeded founding director Robin Robinson. In addition to his role as Director of BARDA, Bright was also Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. On April 20, 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Bright was reassigned to the National Institutes of Health. An HHS spokesperson said Bright's new role will be to help "accelerate the development and deployment of novel point-of-care testing platforms". Bright characterized his transfer as a retaliatory demotion and asked the HHS Inspector General to investigate it. As of May 5, Bright had not reported to NIH to start his new assignment.
COVID-19 whistleblower complaint
On May 5, 2020 Bright filed a whistleblower complaint, including accompanying exhibits only some of which have entered the public domain, alleging that his early warnings about the coronavirus were ignored. In his complaint, delivered through videoconference, Bright asked to be reinstated as director at BARDA, accusing the Trump Administration of firing him in retaliation for his warnings about the virus and his opposition to off-label use of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine, which increased mortality in subjects. He also suggested that the administration was prioritizing "cronyism over science". On May 8, 2020, the United States Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency which protects whistleblowers, reported that it found reasonable grounds for an investigation, and said he should be reinstated as head of BARDA while the investigation is undertaken. However, the recommendation is not binding on HHS. On May 14, 2020 Bright testified before the Health Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. In a written statement issued the day before, he warned that 2020 could be "the darkest winter in modern history" if the country does not undertake a vigorous response to fight the virus. "Our window of opportunity is closing. If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities," he said.
