Re: zerhouni to leave end of october Terri Maxwell 24 Sep 2008 12:52 EST

I, too, was curious about the timing.

On Sep 24, 2008, at 1:36 PM, Dewey, Robin wrote:

> How does this position get filled? Is it appointed by the
> president, like a cabinet position? Or do they interview candidates?
>
> Just curious about the timing…so close to the end of the Bush era
> and such short notice.
>
> From: Research Administration List [mailto:xxxxxx@hrinet.org] On
> Behalf Of Theresa Defino
> Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 11:58 AM
> To: xxxxxx@hrinet.org
> Subject: [RESADM-L] zerhouni to leave end of october
>
> U.S. Department of Health and Human Services NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF
> HEALTH NIH News NIH Office of the Director (OD) <http://www.nih.gov/
> icd/od/>For Immediate Release: Wednesday, September 24, 2008
> CONTACT: NIH News Media Branch, NIH OCPL, 301-496-5787, <e-mail:
> xxxxxx@mail.nih.gov> NIH NEWS ADVISORY ELIAS A. ZERHOUNI TO END
> TENURE AS DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH Bethesda,
> Md, September 24, 2008 -- Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., the director of
> the National Institutes of Health, today announced his plans to
> step down at the end of October 2008 to pursue writing projects and
> explore other professional opportunities. Dr. Zerhouni, a physician
> scientist and world-renowned leader in radiology research, has
> served as NIH director since May 2002.  He led the agency through a
> challenging period that required innovative solutions to transform
> basic and clinical research into tangible benefits for patients and
> their families.  One of the hallmarks of his tenure is the NIH
> Roadmap for Medical Research, launched in 2003, after extensive
> consultations with the scientific community.  The NIH Roadmap
> brought together all of the NIH 27 Institutes and Centers to fund
> compelling research initiatives that could have a major impact on
> science, but that no single institute could tackle alone.
> Additional information about the NIH Roadmap can be found at
> <www.nihroadmap.nih.gov>. Dr. Zerhouni also launched new programs
> to encourage high-risk innovative research, such as the Director's
> Pioneer Awards and New Innovator Awards, and focused especially on
> the need to support new investigators and foster their
> independence. During his tenure, Zerhouni worked to lower barriers
> between disciplines of science and encourage trans-NIH
> collaborations.  For example, he inspired significant
> interdisciplinary efforts such as the NIH Strategic Plan for
> Obesity Research and the Neuroscience Blueprint.   Zerhouni also
> led a major reform of the translational and clinical research
> system in the United States.  He also worked to improve public
> access to scientific information. These efforts, along with his
> continual advocacy for the public's investment in the NIH, greatly
> contributed to Congress passing the NIH Reform Act of 2006, which
> was a sign of renewed confidence in the NIH.  (For more detailed
> information, see a listing of key accomplishments attached to this
> release.)  "I have had the privilege of leading one of the greatest
> institutions in the world for six and a half years," Dr. Zerhouni
> said.  "NIH's strength comes from the extraordinary commitment and
> excellence of its people in serving a noble mission.  It also comes
> from the nation's scientific community, whose discoveries alleviate
> the suffering of patients throughout the world.  Over the past six
> years, we experienced a revolution in the biomedical sciences and I
> feel fortunate to have been part of it.  I will miss the NIH and
> all my colleagues, not only for their friendship and support
> through 'thick and thin,' but also for their essential role in the
> progress we made in advancing innovative research, fostering
> scientific collaboration, supporting young scientists, and
> enhancing basic, translational, and clinical research, despite
> great challenges."  "Elias has been a powerful voice for the
> medical research community as head of the NIH.  His tenure has been
> marked by the spirit of collaboration, good management and
> transformation. The Roadmap for Medical Research that he developed
> and implemented will benefit the health of this nation for many
> years to come," said Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael
> O. Leavitt.  "His many achievements include promotion of genetic
> research, support for advances of biodefense research and helping
> raise awareness of women's heart disease.  I want to thank Elias
> for his leadership and wish him the best of luck as he begins this
> new chapter." NIH is part of the U.S. Department of Health and
> Human Services (HHS), and is the nation's premiere biomedical
> research agency.  The agency has more than 18,000 employees and a
> fiscal year 2008 budget of $29.5 billion.  It supports more than
> 325,000 researcher personnel at more than 3,100 institutions
> throughout the United States, and around the world. The Office of
> the Director, the central office at NIH, is responsible for setting
> policy for NIH, which includes 27 Institutes and Centers. This
> involves planning, managing, and coordinating the programs and
> activities of all NIH components. The Office of the Director also
> includes program offices which are responsible for stimulating
> specific areas of research throughout NIH. Additional information
> is available at <http://www.nih.gov/icd/od/>. The National
> Institutes of Health (NIH) -- The Nation's Medical Research Agency
> -- includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the
> U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary
> federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and
> translational medical research, and it investigates the causes,
> treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more
> information about NIH and its programs, visit <www.nih.gov>.
> ---------------------KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF ELIAS A. ZERHOUNI, M.D.
> As NIH Director, Dr. Zerhouni significantly advanced the NIH
> mission: (1) to pursue fundamental knowledge about the nature and
> behavior of living systems, and (2) to apply that knowledge to the
> extension of healthy life and the reduction of the burdens of
> illness and disability. Zerhouni forged new connections between
> basic and clinical research, integrating the component parts of
> NIH's mission to unprecedented degrees. He also led the agency to
> be better prepared to meet the public health and science needs,
> challenges, and opportunities of the 21st century.   THE NIH
> ROADMAPAs NIH director, Dr. Zerhouni launched a number of far-
> reaching initiatives to address the explosion of new knowledge in
> the biomedical sciences and the growing challenges in public
> health.  In September 2003, he with the Institute and Center
> leadership initiated the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research, a vision
> that helped chart the course for the future of NIH.  The NIH
> Roadmap focused on a short list of compelling initiatives for the
> NIH to pursue that would make a profound, measurable difference in
> biomedical research.  The NIH Roadmap efforts stimulated new
> pathways to discovery, building research teams for the future, and
> re-engineering the clinical research enterprise.  The NIH Roadmap
> is a continuing programmatic priority at NIH and is managed by a
> newly-established Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic
> Initiatives (OPASI).  The ongoing goal of the NIH Roadmap is to
> ensure that NIH is nimble, dynamic, and responsive to emerging
> scientific opportunities and public health needs.   TRANS-NIH
> COLLABORATIONSDrawing from a "common fund" of money, NIH's 27
> Institutes and Centers collaborate on initiatives that are
> essential to the advancement of biomedicine, initiatives that no
> single Institute or Center are able to undertake alone. The NIH
> Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic Initiatives is organized
> around three themes: "New Pathways to Discovery": "Re-engineering
> the Clinical Research Enterprise," and "Research Teams of the
> Future." Today, initiatives within each of these themes are making
> significant contributions to the science and practice of medicine.
> In 2006, Congress passed the NIH Reform Act. Only the third omnibus
> reauthorization in NIH's history, the Reform Act gives the NIH
> Roadmap, and the Common Fund, legislative weight and continued
> support.   TRANS-NIH INITIATIVES TO ADDRESS MAJOR PUBLIC HEALTH
> NEEDSDr. Zerhouni also established NIH-wide research initiatives to
> address major public health problems, including obesity research
> and neuroscience research.  Shortly after Dr. Zerhouni's arrival in
> 2002, he established the NIH Obesity Research Task Force to address
> one the nation's most costly and debilitating health challenges.
> The task force drew representatives from 7 NIH Institutes, Centers,
> and Offices and developed a strategic plan that combined new
> research opportunities with the coordination of resources across
> the NIH.  The plan called for interdisciplinary research teams to
> bridge the study of environmental and behavioral causes with the
> study of genetic and biologic causes. Dr. Zerhouni also spearheaded
> the NIH Neuroscience Blueprint to (1) leverage the resources of 17
> NIH Institutes and Centers, (2) tackle common scientific problems
> and (3) train the future generation of neuroscientists, all in an
> effort to address mental illness, neurological disorders, and a
> range of behavioral disorders that together affect millions of
> individuals at a yearly cost to the U.S. of more than $500
> billion.  CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE AWARDSIn October 2006,
> Dr. Zerhouni launched a national consortium designed to transform
> clinical and translational research.  Called the Clinical and
> Translational Science Awards (CTSAs), the program represented the
> first systematic change in the agency's approach to clinical
> research in 50 years.  The consortium got underway in with 12
> sites; more were added each year with the plan of supporting 60
> such institutions by 2012.  NIH began to see the transformative
> effects of the program as changes occurred and new partnerships at
> institutions were forged.  The CTSA initiative grew out of the NIH
> commitment to re-engineer the clinical research enterprise, one of
> the key objectives of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research.
> MOLECULAR LIBRARIESThe NIH Roadmap identified one key "new
> pathway": the need for molecular libraries.  The Molecular
> Libraries initiative resulted in development of a nationwide
> consortium of 10 small molecule screening centers; including NIH; a
> database, PubChem; and new tools and technologies to better serve
> investigative needs.  PubChem provides free access to discoveries
> about the chemical structures and biological activities of small
> molecules. The program was designed to provide investigators with a
> comprehensive set of small molecule modulators of a majority of the
> genes and functions of humans and other organisms.  The Molecular
> Libraries initiative is also aimed at producing innovative chemical
> tools for use in biological research and drug development.  The
> Molecular Small Molecule Repository currently contains over 300,000
> small molecules, and the network of centers has entered the second
> phase of its research agenda, focusing on small molecule probes.
> SUPPORT FOR HIGH RISK/HIGH IMPACT RESEARCHDuring his tenure, Dr.
> Zerhouni also addressed the agency's continued support of high risk/
> high impact research, innovation in research, and funding for early-
> career investigators.    NIH DIRECTOR'S PIONEER AWARDSDr. Zerhouni
> launched the NIH Director's Pioneer Award Program in 2004 as a high-
> risk research initiative.  The awards are designed to support
> individual scientists of exceptional creativity who propose
> pioneering-and possibly transforming approaches-to major challenges
> in biomedical and behavioral research.  "Pioneering" refers to
> highly innovative approaches with the potential of producing an
> unusually high impact on a broad area of biomedical or behavioral
> research.  Awards may include grants for conducting research as
> opposed to recognizing past achievement.  PATHWAY TO INDEPENDENCE
> AWARDSIn January 2006, Dr. Zerhouni announced the NIH Pathway to
> Independence Award program, which targeted promising postdoctoral
> scientists for receipt of mentored and independent research
> support, both from the same award.  The program is among several
> initiated by Dr. Zerhouni to support scientists at the early part
> of their careers while maintaining the agency's "pipeline" of
> future-generation researchers. With the program's debut, Dr.
> Zerhouni said, "Encouraging independent inquiry by promising new
> investigators is a major goal for NIH.  We must invest in the
> future of our new scientists today if we expect to meet the
> nation's health challenges of tomorrow. New investigators who
> successfully cross the bridge from research dependence to research
> independence bring fresh ideas and innovative perspectives to the
> research enterprise."   NIH NEW INNOVATOR AWARDSIn March 2007, Dr.
> Zerhouni announced the New Innovator Awards Program, designed to
> cultivate new investigators, support innovative ideas, and
> encourage and reward creativity.  Under the program, New Innovator
> Awardees propose bold and highly innovative research approaches
> that have the potential to produce solutions for broad, important
> problems in biomedical and behavioral research.  The program
> complements other NIH efforts to fund new investigators through R01
> grants, the original and historically oldest grant mechanism used
> by NIH, and the one that continues to be the major source of NIH
> support for new investigators.  In 2007, thirty new investigators
> were provided New Innovator Awards under the NIH Roadmap to
> initiate their own new five-year research programs. The awards
> provide brilliant emerging scientists with the resources, time, and
> freedom to pursue creative ideas. TRANSFORMATIVE R01 PROGRAM Dr.
> Zerhouni launched the Transformative R01 (TR01) program in
> September 2008 to provide support for individual scientists or
> collaborative investigative teams who propose transformative
> approaches to major contemporary challenges. The primary objective
> of the T-R01 initiative is to create a program that is specifically
> designed to support exceptionally innovative, high risk, original
> and/or unconventional research with the potential to create new or
> challenge existing scientific paradigms.  The program is a High
> Risk/High Reward Demonstration Project with support from the NIH
> Common Fund. HUMAN MICROBIOME PROJECTIn December 2007, NIH launched
> the Human Microbiome Project under Dr. Zerhouni.  The human
> microbiome is the collective genomes of all the microorganisms in
> or on the human body and is largely unexplored. The project has the
> potential to transform scientific understanding of human health and
> to prevent, diagnose, and treat a wide range of conditions.  The
> project is part of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research and was
> chosen by NIH leadership as a major research opportunity that no
> single Institute or Center could address alone. EPIGENOMICS
> PROJECTIn January 2008, NIH announced a 5-year, $190 million
> investment for the study of epigenomics:  the analysis of
> epigenetic changes across many genes in a cell or an entire
> organism.  Epigenetics focuses on the processes that regulate how
> and when certain genes are turned on and turned off.  "Epigenomics
> will build upon our new knowledge of the human genome and help us
> better understand the role of the environment in regulating genes
> that protect our health or make us susceptible to disease," said
> Dr. Zerhouni at the announcement of the program's start. STRUCTURAL
> BIOLOGY ROADMAPThe Structural Biology Roadmap is a strategic effort
> to create a comprehensive gallery of three-dimensional shapes of
> proteins in the body.  The program seeks to develop methods or
> producing protein samples for use by scientists in determining the
> three-dimensional structure or shape of a protein.  During the
> first phase of the Structural Biology Roadmap (FY2004-2008), the
> NIH funded two Centers for Innovation in Membrane Protein
> Production that enabled interdisciplinary groups of scientists to
> develop innovative methods for producing large quantities of
> membrane proteins.  The NIH program is designed to catalyze what is
> currently a hit-or-miss process into an organized, coordinated,
> systematic, and streamlined routine, helping researchers clarify
> the role of protein shape in health and disease.  A number of small
> exploratory and regular research grants were also awarded to
> individual investigators to broaden the base of innovative ideas
> under development.   ORGANIZATIONAL REFORMS During his tenure, Dr.
> Zerhouni embarked on a wide array of efforts to make NIH more
> responsive to changes and challenges in the scientific landscape
> and more nimble as an organization.  Under Dr. Zerhouni's
> leadership, NIH initiated a number of important and unprecedented
> programs to improve how science is conducted and to ensure that the
> agency takes full advantage of the progress made to date in
> improving people's health. NIH GOVERNANCE IMPROVEMENT-STEERING
> COMMITTEEIn July 2003, Dr. Zerhouni announced the formation of the
> NIH Steering Committee, with a rotating membership of ten directors
> derived from the 27 Institutes and Centers to provide a more
> strategic direction to the agency and streamline its decision-
> making process.  The committee is chaired by the NIH director.  As
> the agency had grown in size and complexity in recent years, there
> had been an increased need for a more efficient trans-NIH
> coordination.  The Steering Committee transformed NIH's ability to
> manage and address the complex issues facing the agency. SCIENCE
> MANAGEMENT REVIEW BOARDIn September 2008, Dr. Zerhouni announced
> formation of the NIH Scientific Management Review Board (SMRB) as
> an outgrowth of the NIH Reform Act of 2006.  The SMRB brings
> together NIH leaders with outside experts to examine NIH's
> organizational structure and make recommendations for greater
> agency flexibility and responsiveness. EFFORTS TO ENHANCE THE NIH
> PEER REVIEW SYSTEMIn June 2008, Dr. Zerhouni announced major
> changes to improve and enhance the NIH peer review system, marking
> the end of a year-long effort to determine ways to further enrich
> the traditional NIH peer review system.  NIH is now implementing
> the programmatic results of Dr. Zerhouni's original charge, "to
> fund the best science, by the best scientists, with the least
> administrative burden."  The formal review process involved
> consultation with and comment from internal staff, patient groups,
> and the broad scientific community, as well as analysis of
> thousands of comments, feedback, and opinions about the current NIH
> peer review system.   PUBLIC ACCESS TO NIH-FUNDED PUBLISHED
> RESEARCHIn February 2005, Dr. Zerhouni announced an unprecedented
> policy designed to expand and accelerate public access to published
> articles resulting from NIH-funded research.  The policy was the
> first of its kind and called on scientists to release manuscripts
> from research supported by NIH as soon as possible, and within 12
> months of publication.  Publications are made available in a web-
> based archive managed by the National Library of Medicine.  At a
> time when demand for such information is on a steady rise, the
> online archive increases the public's access to health-related
> publications.  ENHANCED TRANSPARENCYNIH's responded to a call by
> Congress and the public for enhanced transparency and accessibility
> regarding disease funding by creating the Research, Condition, and
> Disease Categorization (RCDC) system.  RCDC utilizes a computer-
> based tool that applies a uniform process of accounting for NIH
> funding for diseases and conditions.  The process produces a fully
> transparent list of grants underlying and supporting the dollar
> amounts for each reporting area.  NIH will unveil the first RCDC
> reports as part of the release of the President's 2010 budget
> request. SWEEPING REFORM OF NIH ETHICSIn February 2005, Dr.
> Zerhouni announced a set of ethics regulations to address outside
> consulting between some NIH employees and representatives of the
> pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors.  Dr. Zerhouni launched
> the revised rules to help NIH (1) preserve its historic role as the
> primary source of unbiased scientific health information for the
> country and (2) maintain the highest ethical standards, both while
> sustaining the agency's ability to support and conduct the best
> medical research in the world. PUBLIC TRUST INITIATIVEIn October
> 2007, Dr. Zerhouni announced release of a new Request for
> Applications (RFA) for the Partners in Research Program, which
> supports studies of innovative ways to increase science literacy,
> improve public understanding of health research, and engage the
> public through community-based organizations.  The program is one
> of several programs initiated by NIH to maintain and enhance public
> trust in medical research. REACHING OUT TO THE PUBLICUnder Dr.
> Zerhouni's leadership, NIH reached to the public in an
> unprecedented way with the communication of science-based health
> information and scientific results. He led efforts to make the
> incomparable resources of the NIH and its grantees, resources
> accessible to the public. Key to these efforts are the health
> education programs across the agency. With more than 2 million
> visits a day to the NIH websites, including the NIH's NLM vast
> collection materials available through comprehensive clearinghouses
> and #800, use of new resources of podcasting, vodcasting, Research
> Matters, NIH: News in Health, YouTube, and radio resources to reach
> audiences who depend upon radio more than the web, materials for
> people who have challenges of literacy, language or access were
> also developed. He worked closely with the Council of Public
> Representatives in encouraging these efforts.  In two important
> messages to NIH and the public, Dr. Zerhouni encouraged open
> discourse about science noting: "Timely and accurate research
> results and science-based health communications are an integral
> part of the NIH mission." ## This NIH News Release is available
> online at:<http://www.nih.gov/news/health/sep2008/od-24.htm>. To
> subscribe (or unsubscribe) from this list, go to<http://
> list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=nihpress&A=1>.
> Kind regards,
> Theresa Defino
> Editor
> Report on Research Compliance
> 301-738-3721
> xxxxxx@aol.com
>
>
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Terri Maxwell, Project Representative
University of Michigan, Research Administration
3003 S. State St.  Room 1040
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