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The National Institutes of Health has announced six officials to temporarily lead agencies overseeing infectious diseases, children’s health, nursing and minority health research.
The new appointments come weeks after the agency fired several institute directors or placed them on administrative leave. Several other NIH officials have retired or quit in recent weeks, citing reorganization plans led by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
All of the acting directors currently work at the NIH, according to an email announcement viewed by CNN. The National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ new acting director, Dr. Jeff Taubenberger, is a longtime viral disease researcher who studied the 1918 flu outbreak.
Dr. Monica Webb Hooper, the current deputy director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, will step into the acting director role. Hooper’s background includes research on cancer disparities.
The National Institute of Mental Health will be led by Dr. Andrea Beckel-Mitchener, who has also worked on disparities research and on rural access to mental health resources. Dr. Alison Cernich, who led children’s medical rehabilitation at the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development, will step into the acting role there.
Dr. Courtney Aklin, who has been a senior adviser to the NIH director and, more recently, acting associate deputy director, will lead the National Institute on Nursing Research.
NIH leadership also tapped Dr. Carolyn Hutter, a longtime genetics researcher with the agency, to lead the National Human Genome Research Institute.