WASHINGTON — The departure of two key public health leaders at the National Institutes of Health has created vacancies some worry could present a hurdle to NIH’s agenda in the new Congress.
The Biden administration has yet to nominate a permanent replacement for former NIH Director Francis Collins, who stepped down from the post in December 2021. And efforts to replace the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, who left in December of last year, are underway.
While Fauci in particular was a lightning rod for conservatives who were angry about the federal government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the vacancies nonetheless come at a time when the administration has big plans for advancing medical research.
