US President appoints Monica Bertagnolli as NIH director

U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday chose cancer surgeon Monica Bertagnolli to be director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) after a year-long search to find a permanent replacement for the agency’s long-serving head Francis Collins.

Bertagnolli, if confirmed by the U.S. Senate, will become the second woman to serve as a permanent director of the NIH, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with a budget of about $45 billion in 2022.

“Dr Bertagnolli is a world-class physician-scientist whose vision and leadership will ensure NIH continues to be an engine of innovation to improve the health of the American people,” Biden said in a statement.

Bertagnolli was appointed in October to head the National Cancer Institute, which is a part of NIH, and also served as head of surgical oncology at the Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center, one of the nation’s top cancer research facilities.

Biden’s nomination of Bertagnolli comes as his administration has increased focus on cancer research through a revival of the ‘Cancer Moonshot’ program.

Collins, who led NIH for 12 years, stepped down from that role in late 2021. Lawrence Tabak has been performing the director duties since December of that year after previously holding the roles of principal deputy director and deputy ethics counselor since 2010 at NIH.

In December, Bertagnolli announced that she had been diagnosed with early stage breast cancer and would need surgery and possibly additional treatment, but added that the prognosis was very favorable.

“Dr Bertagnolli is a physician scientist and a patient herself, and deeply understands the intricacies and personal impact of biomedical research,” said Ellen Sigal, chair and founder of non-profit think tank Friends of Cancer Research.

Bernadine Healy was the first woman to head the NIH, serving from April 1991 to June 1993. Reuters