During the year-end meeting of the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD), Larry Tabak, the agency’s principal deputy who has been acting head since Francis Collins stepped down a year ago, assured members that all was well with him, personally, and with the agency (see story, p. 1).[1]
But the top job isn’t the only one vacant. It’s widely known that, in addition to Collins’ post, Anthony Fauci retired last month after leading the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for 38 years. While an interim NIAID director has been appointed, NIH will need to hire a permanent one.
At the ACD meeting, Tabak detailed Fauci’s temporary replacement as well as the departures of four others (and their replacements, if named). He also outlined five recently appointed leaders.
The NIH centers and institutes that have seen departures are as follows:
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NIAID: Hugh Auchincloss, current deputy director who has been named acting, “is well-suited to step into that role” following Fauci’s retirement, Tabak said. “We’ll be in good hands during the interim period as we do a search for the next director of NIAID.”
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Center for Information Technology: Andrea Norris, center director and NIH chief information officer, has retired. Tabak said Norris “has really brought NIH infrastructure into the modern age, and we’re extremely grateful to her.” He called her retirement announcement “bittersweet.” Ivor D’Souza, who Tabak said was “on loan from the Library of Medicine,” has been named acting director.
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Fogarty International Center: Roger Glass was scheduled to step down as director of the center, and as NIH associate director for international research, effective Jan. 14. The longest-serving director of the center, Glass has held the positions since March 2006. Glass “will remain in an emeritus capacity,” Tabak said, adding NIH is “fortunate” that Peter Kilmarx, current deputy director, will be the acting director.
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Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI), part of the Office of the Director: In June, James Anderson retired as director; soon afterward, Robert W. Eisinger was named acting director. Eisinger will be launching the search for a permanent director “shortly,” Tabak said. According to NIH’s announcement of Anderson’s retirement, Eisinger’s most recent position was director of innovation at FasterCures, part of the Milken Institute Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions. Eisinger left NIH in April; at the time, he was the senior scientific advisor at DPCPSI. He has held numerous other positions at NIH, including acting director of NIH’s Office of AIDS Research.
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NIH Clinical Center: John I. Gallin, associate director for clinical research and chief scientific officer at the center, will retire in March. No replacement has yet been named. Tabak noted that Gallin has had “over 50 years of leadership” at NIH.
