The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH, is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late 1880s and is now part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Many NIH facilities are located in Bethesda, Maryland, and other nearby suburbs of the Washington metropolitan area, with other primary facilities in the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina and smaller satellite facilities located around the United States. The NIH conducts its own scientific research through the NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP) and provides major biomedical research funding to non-NIH research facilities through its Extramural Research Program.
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) is one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It supports and conducts research aimed at improving the health of children, adults, families, and communities, including:
Faye Glenn Abdellah was an American pioneer in nursing research. Abdellah was the first nurse and woman to serve as the Deputy Surgeon General of the United States. Preceding her appointment, she served in active duty during the Korean War, where she earned a distinguished ranking equivalent to a Navy Rear Admiral, making her the highest-ranked woman and nurse in the Federal Nursing Services at the time. In addition to these achievements, Abdellah led the formation of the National Institute of Nursing Research at the NIH, and was the founder and first dean of the Graduate School of Nursing at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). A few of Abdellah's more passionate interests in public health included the importance of long-term care planning for elderly patients; the need to strengthen nursing school infrastructure; and the necessity of patient-centered approaches in nursing. In 2000, Abdellah was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. During her acceptance speech, Abdellah made the following quote: "We cannot wait for the world to change. .. Those of us with intelligence, purpose, and vision must take the lead and change the world. .. I promise never to rest until my work has been completed!”
Susan Shurin is a senior adviser at the National Cancer Institute. From 2006–2014, she served as Deputy and Acting Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health.
Ruth Lillian Kirschstein was an American pathologist and science administrator at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Kirschstein served as director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, deputy director of NIH in the 1990s, and acting director of the NIH in 1993 and 2000-2002.
The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) is an American government health institute. It is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The stated mission of the NIMHD is to "lead scientific research to improve minority health and eliminate health disparities."
Yoke Peng Loh is an American biochemist and molecular biologist currently acting as Senior Investigator and Head at the Section on Cellular Neurobiology, Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health (NIH). She earned a B.S. in biochemistry at University College Dublin in 1969 and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1973. She did her postdoctoral work with Harold Gainer at NIH and at the Max Planck Institute in Germany.
Consuelo H. Wilkins is an American physician, biomedical researcher, and health equity expert. She is Senior Vice President and Senior Associate Dean for Health Equity and Inclusive Excellence at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She is a professor of medicine in the Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and has a joint appointment at Meharry Medical College. She additionally serves as one of the principal investigators of the Vanderbilt Clinical and Translational Science Award, Director of the Meharry-Vanderbilt Community Engaged Research Core (CTSA) and as vice president for Health Equity at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Judith L. Vaitukaitis was a reproductive neuroendocrinologist and clinical researcher who played a key role in developing a biochemical assay in the early 1970s that ultimately led to the creation of the home pregnancy test. She served for 12 years as director of the US National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Marie A. Bernard, M.D. is the Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Prior to this, she was the deputy director of the National Institute on Aging at the NIH, where she oversaw approximately $3.1 billion in research focused on aging and Alzheimer's disease. Bernard serves as a cochair of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director Working Group on Diversity, the NIH Steering Committee Working Group on DEIA, and the NIH UNITE initiative launched in 2021 to identify and address any structural racism that may exist within NIH and throughout the biomedical and behavioral workforce. She also co-led the development of the Fiscal Years 2023 – 2027 NIH-wide Strategic Plan for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) and is working on its implementation.
Colonel Jeannette South-Paul is an American physician. She is the first African-American and first woman to be a permanent department chair at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine.
Colleen Barros is an American government official specialized in managing technical and scientific information systems and in research and development management. She served as the acting United States deputy secretary of health and human services from January 20, 2017, until October 6, 2017, before being succeeded by Eric Hargan. Barros served as the deputy for Norris Cochran (acting), Tom Price and Don J. Wright (acting).
Michele Kim Evans is an American internist and medical oncologist. She is a senior investigator and Deputy Scientific Director at the National Institute on Aging.
Melissa Andrea Simon is an American clinical obstetrician/gynecologist and scientist who focuses on health equity across the lifespan. Simon is founder and director of the Center for Health Equity Transformation (CHET) in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, and founder of the Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative, a National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer partnership led by the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Northeastern Illinois University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is the George H. Gardner, MD Professor of Clinical Gynecology, the Vice-Chair of Clinical Research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, tenured professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Preventive Medicine and Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and Associate Director of Community Outreach and Engagement at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Della Marie Hann is an American psychologist and research administrator serving as the associate director for extramural research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Alison Nenos Cernich is an American neuropsychologist specializing in traumatic brain injury and computerized neuropsychological assessment. She is the deputy director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Cernich was previously deputy director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, assistant professor of neurology at University of Maryland School of Medicine, and chief of neuropsychology at the VA Maryland Health Care System.
Lawrence A. Tabak is an American dentist and biomedical scientist serving as the principal deputy director of the National Institutes of Health. He served as acting director from 2021 to 2023. Previously he was the director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research from 2000 to 2010.
Tara A. Schwetz is an American biophysicist and government administrator who serves as a deputy director of the National Institutes of Health. She previously served as Acting Principal Deputy Director.
Nina Felice Schor is an American physician-scientist and pediatric neurologist. She has served as director of the NIH Intramural Research Program since the Fall of 2022. Schor was the deputy director of National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke from 2018 to 2022. She was the William H. Eilinger Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at University of Rochester and Pediatrician-in-Chief of the Golisano Children’s Hospital from 2006 to January 2018.
