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Director, Elias A. Zerhouni,
M.D. in front of NIH headquarters, Bethesda, MD
Welcome to the National Institutes
of Health.
At NIH, we are dedicated to improving the health of Americans
by conducting and funding medical research.
We also train scientists, and communicate medical and health
sciences information to patients, their families, health care
providers and the general public.
NIH guides America's efforts in medical research. Our goal is
to uncover new knowledge that will help prevent, detect, diagnose,
and treat disease and disability, from the common cold to the
rarest genetic disorder.
Our investment in understanding such diseases as AIDS, diabetes,
heart disease and cancer returns dividends in longer, healthier,
and safer lives.
We continue to make major inroads in fighting humanity's most
enduring illnesses. And we are working to confront new threats
to our health and safety, like bioterrorism.
We encourage you to explore the wealth of medical research on
the NIH Web site and to learn more about our world-class research,
scientists, and programs.
Biographical Sketch
NIH Director, Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., leads the nation’s medical
research agency and oversees the NIH’s 27 Institutes and Centers
with more than 18,000 employees and a fiscal year 2008 budget
of $29.5 billion. Read the full bio
sketch.
Interviews and Articles
- Science
The Endless Frontier: A Report to the President by Vannevar
Bush, Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development,
July 1945
"Vannevar Bush was one of the founding fathers of the
modern scientific enterprise. His vision for the future of
the Federal Government's role in scientific research, which
emerged from his experience as the Director of U.S. research
during World War II, created an indelible blueprint that has
endured for more than six decades."
- The
Promise of Personalized Medicine (PDF
- 165 KB), NIH MedlinePlus Magazine, Winter
2007
"We are in a revolutionary period of medicine that I call
the four Ps: predictive, personalized, preemptive and participatory.
This requires patient involvement well before disease strikes.
As opposed to the doctor-centric, curative model of the past,
the future is going to be patient-centric and proactive. It
must be based on education and communication."
- NIH
Director Outlines Vision for Future at Annual LRI Scientific
Conference, Lupus Research Institute (LRI,) October
19, 2006
"To make change in science," Dr. Zerhouni continued in
language evocative of the LRI, "we need to recognize first
and foremost that no one knows the answer at the edge of science
and you have to be humble. The second is that no one knows
the exact pathway or approach by which the next breakthrough
is going to occur. You have to be flexible enough to allow
the diversity of approaches."
- Research
Funding: NIH in the Post-Doubling Era: Realities and Strategies, Science,
November 17, 2006
"We need to remain focused on our core values and to pursue
our fundamental mission of discovery—translating new
knowledge into tangible benefits for the American people. This
must remain our top priority. This means maintaining, to the
greatest extent possible, the ability of scientists at all
stages of their careers to continue their work."
- Interview
of Dr. Zerhouni, Chemical and Engineering News,
July 3, 2006
"This concept of engaging and encouraging risk-taking
is something I've espoused with as much energy as I can."
- Progress
Report on the NIH Roadmap Initiative, The New Way of Doing
Business at the NIH Draws Accolades from Industry (PDF
- 221 KB), Genetic Engineering News, June
15, 2006
At its inception in 2002, the NIH Roadmap initiative (nihroadmap.nih.gov)
created to “identify major opportunities and gaps in
biomedical research that no single institute at the NIH could
tackle alone but that the agency as whole must address.” Put
into effect the 2004 budget year, the program developed into
not only a way of operating for the NIH but also as a model
for other organizations to follow.
- Extracting
Knowledge From Science: A Conversation With Elias Zerhouni, Health
Affairs, May-June, 2006
"If you want to transform medicine, it has to be from
something other than the curative paradigm: Wait until you’re
sick and then come and see me, and I’ll do what I can.
That has been true for 5,000 years. Now we have to do something
different."
- Translational
and Clinical Science—Time for a New Vision, New
England Journal of Medicine, October 13, 2005
"It is the responsibility of those of us involved in today's
biomedical research enterprise to translate the remarkable
scientific innovations we are witnessing into health gains
for the nation."
- US
Biomedical Research; Basic, Translational, and Clinical Sciences (PDF
- 96 KB),
Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol 294,
No. 11, pages 1352-1358, September 21, 2005
"This unique period offers the unprecedented opportunity
to identify individuals at risk of disease based on precise
molecular knowledge, and the chance to intervene to preempt
disease before it strikes."
- Grand
Challenges in Global Health Media Briefing, June 23,
2005
"...I think you can note that some of these projects are
extremely focused, with very clear deliverable milestones.
In areas of technology developments, they are of immediate
relevance to the issue of global health."
- Elias
Zerhouni: Taking Stock, Science, June 3, 2005
"We want to challenge the community to put together real
academic homes for translational science and for clinical science.
Where, A, you can have a joint appointment, [and] B, you can
really train in what you need to train in translational science.
... And it needs degree-granting programs, it needs graduate
programs, it needs postdocs..."
- Dr.
Zerhouni delivers Mayo Commencement Address, May 21,
2005
"I’ve been fortunate to live in the most exciting
30 years in medicine, and in medical imaging, and I thought
that there could not be another 30 years like this. But let
me tell you, I’m wrong. I think what we’re going
to witness over the next 25 to 30 years is going to be, again,
a period of extraordinary change."
- Dr.
Zerhouni responds to student's question about the NIH Public
Access Policy
Students
from Norwin High School in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania sent
letters to the NIH Director about the implications of NIH's
new public access policy designed
to accelerate the public's access to published articles resulting
from NIH-funded research. The policy—the first of its
kind for NIH—calls on scientists to release to the public
manuscripts from research supported by NIH as soon as possible,
and within 12 months of final publication. Dr. Zerhouni responded
to their questions with a video. Download
Free RealPlayer.
- Information
Access: NIH Public Access Policy—Science,
December 10, 2004
"A new National Institutes of Health public access draft
policy is raising a tremendous amount of interest in the scientific,
patient, and publishing communities. I would like to clarify
what the proposed policy is, describe its rationale, and explain
why the NIH thinks this is a reasonable, balanced policy that
will serve all interests."
- Pioneer
Award Announcement—September 29, 2004
"Science advances very quickly. New technologies emerge,
as well as new ideas, in terms of questions that we could address
today that we couldn’t in the past. There is a need for
us to encourage high risk, high impact research: There is a
need for a Pioneer
Award."
- Financial
Conflicts of Interest and the NIH—New England
Journal of Medicine, January 22, 2004
"Transparency—full light on any relationship—is
one of the best protections against any real or perceived conflict
of interest," said Zerhouni. "How you accomplish
that is first on the agenda."
- The
NIH Roadmap (PDF - 54 KB)—Science,
October 3, 2003
"As science grows more complex, it is also converging
on a set of unifying principles that link apparently disparate
diseases through common biological pathways and therapeutic
approaches. Today, NIH research needs to reflect this new reality."
- Elias
Zerhouni: Living in Interesting Times—The NIH
Catalyst, January-February 2003
"In the entire scientific spectrum, it is the life sciences
that are the grand challenge for now and the foreseeable future.
We need to make discoveries at a more rapid pace because time
is of the essence when you consider the aging of the population,
the growth of our health expenditures, and the new threats
that are emerging."
- Zerhouni
Plots 'Roadmap for Action' For NIH Future—The
NIH Record, September 17, 2002
"I think it's important initially, when you take on a
new job, to focus 100 percent on the new job, build teams,
have appropriate interactions with the IC directors and all
of the management team, set up some operating principles, and
become also a spokesman for NIH, across many constituencies."
What's New
- Statement
regarding Paul G. Rogers, October 14, 2008
- Memorandum
from the NIH Director: Departure Memo, September 24,
2008
- Memorandum from the NIH Director: NIH
Tobacco-Free October 1, 2008
- The
Public Access Policy of the National Institutes of Health,
Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet,
and Intellectual Property Committee on the Judiciary United
States House of Representatives, Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.,
September 11, 2008 – Slides used during the House
of Representatives presentation: NIH's
Public Access Policy (PDF
- 2.3M)
- The
NIH Reform Act of 2006: Progress, Challenges, and Next
Steps; Statement of Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., Director,
National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, September 9, 2008
- Statement
on Recent Terrorism at University of California, Santa
Cruz
- A
Statement from the NIH Director, Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.,
on Change in Leadership for the National Human Genome Research
Institute, May 28, 2008
- Dr.
Elias A. Zerhouni receives the Légion d'honneur, April
10, 2008
- A
Statement from the NIH Director, Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.,
on Encryption and Data Security, April 9, 2008
- A
Statement from the NIH Director, Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.,
Welcoming Comments on the Implementation of the Public
Access Policy, March 26, 2008
- A
Statement from the NIH Director, Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.
on Dr. Schwartz's Departure, February 8, 2008
- Attacks
on Researchers and Scientific Institutions, A Statement
from the NIH Director, Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., February
8, 2008
- A
Statement from the NIH Director, Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.,
Regarding the 2006 NIH-Supported Presidential Early Career
Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) Recipients,
November 1, 2007
- Signature
of a Letter of Intent between the National Institutes of
Health and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
(CNRS) for the "Research Career Transition Award" Program ,
October 22, 2007
- Statement
by Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., Director, NIH, regarding comments
attributed to Dr. James Watson, October 19, 2007
- NIH
Grantees Win 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
for Developing Techniques to Target Specific Genes in Mice,
October 8, 2007
- Enhancing
peer review: Inviting comments
- In
Memoriam, Stephen E. Straus, M.D., First Director of NIH’s
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
and Internationally Recognized Physician-Scientist,
May 15, 2007
- Statement
by Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., Director, NIH, regarding Open
Discourse (PDF - 54.3 KB),
April 5, 2007
- Opening
Statement, FY2008 Senate Budget Request (PDF
- 1.93 MB), March 19, 2007
- Slides used during the Senate presentation: NIH:
A Vision for the Future (PDF -
1.35 MB), March 6, 2007
- Opening
Statement, FY2008 House Budget Request, March 6, 2007
- Slides used during the House presentation: NIH:
A Vision for the Future (PDF -
1.98 MB), March 6, 2007
- The
Promise of Personalized Medicine (PDF
- 165 KB), NIH MedlinePlus Magazine,
Winter 2007
- Summary
of the FY2008 President's Budget (PDF
- 231 KB) February 5, 2007
- NIH
Leads Effort to Help Women in Science and Medicine Fulfill
Potential January 29, 2007
- Statement
regarding the "National Institutes of Health Reform Act
of 2006," December 11, 2006
- The
National Institutes of Health (NIH): Organization, Funding,
and Congressional Issues (PDF -
205 KB)
- Research
Funding: NIH in the Post-Doubling Era: Realities and Strategies
- Update
on Conflict of Interest Issues: Ethics Survey Results,
October 26, 2006
- Presentation
to the Society for Neuroscience (PDF
- 3.32 MB), October 17, 2006
- Public-Private
Partnership Forms the Biomarkers Consortium to Advance
the Science of Personalized Medicine (FNIH release),
October 5, 2006
- Press
Statement from NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.: NIH
Grantee Wins 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for Discovering
How Genes Produce Proteins, October 4, 2006
- Press
Statement from NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.: NIH
Grantees Win 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
for Discovering Powerful Gene Silencer, October 2,
2006
- NIH
Director's Statement Regarding House Passage of NIH Reform
Act September 26, 2006
- Elias
A. Zerhouni, M.D., NIH Director, Endorses National Academy
of Sciences Report: Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling
the Dream of Women in Academic Science and Engineering,
September 19, 2006
- A
Vision for Transforming Medicine in the 21st Century (PDF
- 184 KB),Tokyo, September 13, 2006
- NIH
at the Crossroads: Strategies for the Future (PDF
- 6.16 MB)
This page was last reviewed on
October 21, 2008
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