The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the oldest private medical society in the country and operator of the Mütter Museum, announced Wednesday that president and CEO Mira Irons has resigned to take another job. Irons’ departure comes as the Mütter embarks on a public engagement project to examine ethical questions surrounding the display of human remains.

Irons, a geneticist and pediatrics specialist, was appointed in 2021. She will return to Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, her former employer, to become associate chief of genetics and genomics. She will be replaced by a trio of medical fellows who will lead the College during the search for a permanent successor.

“I am heartened by the (board of trustees’) commitment to continue the work of preparing both the College and the Museum to remain relevant for the next 100 years, and I believe that with the processes now in place, particularly the comprehensive audit of the collection and launch of the Pew-funded public engagement process, as well as the development of a master plan to transition from a single building to a campus, our organization is positioned for a bright future,” Irons said.

CPP, established in 1787, is a private membership organization for physicians with a mission of advancing the science of medicine. It was modeled after the Royal College of Physicians in London and became an early advocate for public health measures in the U.S. The College’s home at 19 S. 22nd St., completed in 1909, houses both the Mütter Museum and the Historical Medical Library. The College also hosts seminars and conferences for medical professionals.

One of Irons’ most significant moves as president and CEO came last September when she appointed Kate Quinn, a former leader at the Penn Museum and Bucks County’s Michener Art Museum, as executive director of the Mütter.

Together, Irons and Quinn have spearheaded an initiative to rethink the contemporary goals of the Mütter. They have questioned the ethical value of displaying human remains at the 160-year-old medical history museum, whose vast collection contains about 6,500 biological specimens. Many of these remains were obtained by the museum before people could legally consent to donating their bodies to science. Irons and Quinn have argued that medical institutions like CPP have historically collected research materials from marginalized groups whose remains have not been handled with dignity and respect.

Earlier this month, the Mütter announced a two-year public engagement project — “Postmortem: Mütter Museum” — that will consist of a series of town halls and online discussions about planning the museum’s future. The initiative is funded by a $285,500 grant from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage and will incorporate outside experts from multiple disciplines. The first public event will be held at the museum on Oct. 17.

Under Irons’ leadership, the College also completed a $3.2 million renovation of its storage facilities and acquired another building at 2129 Chestnut St. Irons told the Philadelphia Business Journal the new space would not be used to expand the museum, but would aid in the creation of a campus that can facilitate new events.

The push by Irons and Quinn to move away from the Mütter’s legacy has provoked intense backlash from longtime supporters, former staff, donors and members of the museum.

In an online petition with more than 34,000 signatures, a group called Protect the Mütter urged the College’s board of trustees to dismiss Quinn and Irons for their attempt to “remove and sanitize” the museum’s collection.

In January, the museum took down its online galleries, videos and exhibits that gave educational background on the Mütter’s human remains and other medical objects. Then in August, the museum launched a new online collections database that doesn’t display any photos of human remains.

Protect the Mütter organizers fear that Quinn intends to turn the museum into a contemporary health and wellness institute catered to medical professionals. They’re concerned that popular programs will be scrapped and the longstanding public appeal of the museum — a major driver of revenue for the College — will be damaged if drastic changes are made.

The growing battle over the Mütter’s future has drawn international press in recent months, putting attention on the museum’s unique history and the purpose of showcasing human remains.

An organizer for Protect the Mütter said Wednesday morning that the group knew for several weeks that Irons would be resigning.

“Considering the deluge of bad press, plummeting ticket sales and outpouring of anger from the membership and donors, not to mention what we understand to be an incredibly damning HR report, this is hardly a shocking move,” said the organizer, who asked to remain anonymous.

Quinn did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday morning about Irons’ departure.

Replacing Quinn in the interim will be Carolyn H. Asbury, a specialist in health philanthropy and medical drug policy research; Daniel T. Dempsey, a surgeon and emertius professor at the University of Pennsylvania; and Sankey V. Williams, an emeritus professor of general internal medicine at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine.

“Dr. Irons arrived at a time of great change for our organization, as we emerged from the pandemic and sought to re-engage with our Fellowship and the larger Philadelphia community,” said Julia A. Haller, chair of the College’s board of trustees. “At the same time, Dr. Irons embraced the challenge to collaboratively re-envision the College’s future, including the complex and sensitive ethical issues confronting the Mütter Museum and museums all over the world concerning best practices and the respectful display of human remains.”