NIH director to step down ahead of Trump inauguration

Source: The Hill

01/15/25 6:45 PM ET


National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Monica Bertagnolli will resign on Jan. 17, she told staff this week, ending her tenure as the head of the $48 billion biomedical research agency after only a year. “I am so proud of what NIH has been able to achieve in such a short time under my leadership,” Bertagnolli said in her announcement, touting a list of initiatives launched that she hopes the next administration will continue.

The NIH has typically been an agency with bipartisan support, and Bertagnolli’s predecessor, Francis Collins, served three administrations over more than 12 years. But lingering Republican anger over the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed NIH squarely into partisan crosshairs.

The agency faced heavy criticism, which especially targeted leaders like Collins and Anthony Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 38 years. Bertagnolli has spent much of the past year trying to shore up support among House and Senate lawmakers who want to implement dramatic changes, including shrinking the agency from 27 separate institutes and centers to 15.

Other proposals included a term limit for institute directors with a maximum duration of two terms, adding new oversight measures for grantees and adding new restrictions on research grants that present national security risks.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5088220-nih-director-resigns-monica-bertagnolli/