2008-11-13
As expected, Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) Secretary, Michael Leavitt, announced that Raynard S.
Kington, MD, PhD, will serve as Acting Director of the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) following the departure of NIH Director,
Elias Zerhouni, on October 31.
Dr. Zerhouni announced
in September that he would be leaving NIH and it was widely speculated
at that time that Dr. Kington would serve as Acting Director. The
official announcement of Dr. Kington’s appointment from Secretary
Leavitt follows:
Subject: Message from HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt
As
many of you know, Dr. Elias Zerhouni recently announced his departure
from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at the end of this month.
He has been a powerful voice and leader in this position and will be
greatly missed.
Effective October 31, Dr. Raynard S. Kington
will become Acting NIH Director. Since 2003, Dr. Kington has been
Principal Deputy Director of NIH and worked closely with the Director
on the overall leadership, policy direction and coordination of NIH's
27 Institutes and Centers. He has previously served in various other
positions in NIH and the Centers for Disease Control as well as being a
senior scientist at the RAND Corporation.
Dr. Kington will be
an effective leader of the agency in this transition period. Please
join me in congratulating Dr. Kington and thanking him for his service.
Additionally,
on November 12, Dr. Kington announced the appointment of Lawrence
Tabak, DDS, PhD., as Principal Acting Deputy Director for the NIH,
effective November 13, 2008. Dr. Tabak has been the Director of the
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research since September
2000.
Prior to joining the NIH, Dr. Tabak was the Senior
Associate Dean for Research and professor of dentistry and of
biochemistry and biophysics in the School of Medicine and Dentistry at
the University of Rochester. Dr. Kington said that while acting as NIH
Principal Deputy Director, Dr. Tabak will also continue his role as the
NIDCR Director.
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