Alex Palazzo is a postdoctoral fellow working in the Department of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School.
Elias A. Zerhouni, is stepping down as head of the National Institutes of Health.
I heard about the announcement last night at the NERD meeting. Many were happy. Many blog commentators have added their two cents. Here are mine:
1) He's stepping down real soon (the end of October). Why so quickly? Did something happen? And why is this happening just before the elections and not closer to January when the next administration takes over?
2) Zerhouni is an MD, and under his direction there has been more of an emphasis on translational-research and less on basic research. (Read all about it at the NIH Roadmap).You can imagine that most basic researchers have felt neglected. Thus the big question is Will the next NIH director be an MD or a PhD? Or perhaps as a compromise, we could get the someone like Joe Goldstein or Mike Brown from UT Southwestern. These two MDs have been collaborating forever on basic research involving cholesterol metabolism. Their work has not only contributed to our basic knowledge of how cells work but has led to many new treatments (i.e. statins). PhDs want someone up there who appreciate that transitional research NEEDS basic research.
Links around the blogs:
DrugMonkey: Zerhouni to retire, let's all dance the Director Shuffle
Nick Anthis: NIH Director Elias Zerhouni Announces Resignation
Revere: Director of NIH resigns
Bora: Zerhouni to step down
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Comments
Is the head of the NIH appointed by the president? If so he is probably leaving because of the upcoming election. He will almost certainly be replaced if he stays on, regardless of who wins, so he takes off early. I think it's pretty common for appointed positions.
Posted by: funkotron | September 25, 2008 3:27 PM
Yes he is. But Zerhouni wasn't that much of a political appointment in that his major policies didn't have too much to do with the GOP platform.
Posted by: Alex Palazzo | September 25, 2008 4:22 PM
Excellent suggestion on Goldstein and/or Brown. They both "get it" and either would be excellent, me thinks.
Posted by: juniorprof | September 25, 2008 6:12 PM
The past NIH director list is at: http://www.nih.gov/about/almanac/historical/directors.htm
They have all been MDs. It is a political appointment, but there is a history of them crossing administrations.
Healy went from Bush Sr. to the first 6 months of Clinton.
Wyngaarden did the first 6 months of Bush Sr.
Fredrickson went from Ford all the way through Carter to the first 6 months of Reagan.
I can probably go back further, but there's no inherent tradition of the director resigning around this time.
Posted by: bsci | September 26, 2008 9:53 AM
Although Varmus was an MD, he did basic research - and under his directorship the NIH strongly supported basic research. Most would agree that Varmus was the best director that the NIH ever had.
You'll also note that both Brown and Goldstein are MDs, but the appointment of either (or both since they work as a team) would please the PhDs.
Posted by: Alex Palazzo | September 26, 2008 11:02 AM