News Release

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

NIH Nominates Scientific Management Review Board Members

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., has nominated individuals to serve as members of the Scientific Management Review Board (SMRB). The SMRB will examine the NIH's organizational structure and balance and will provide recommendations for enhancing the agency's mission through greater agency flexibility and responsiveness.

SMRB was authorized by the NIH Reform Act of 2006 and signed into law by the President in January 2007. This act was the first omnibus reauthorization of NIH in 14 years. A major element of the Reform Act of 2006 was the new authority it gave to the NIH Director to improve program coordination, assemble and analyze accurate data, implement strategic plans based on institute and center determined priorities, ensure resources are properly allocated, and further maximize investigator-initiated research in high impact and emerging research areas.

"My charge to the Board is to be thorough with their organizational reviews," said NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. "NIH must respond nimbly and strategically in an era when the scale and complexity of the scientific and health problems we are facing require constant innovation and adaptability due to the rapidly changing pace of promising discoveries and increased interdisciplinary efforts."

More information about the NIH reform Act of 2006 can be found at: http://www.nih.gov/about/reauthorization/index.htm

Norman R. Augustine has been nominated to serve as the board's first chairman. Mr. Augustine is the former chairman of the executive committee of Lockheed Martin Corporation. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Princeton University, majoring in aeronautical engineering. Mr. Augustine was a consultant to the Executive Office of the President, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research and Development, and was Undersecretary of the Army. After leaving government service, he served as vice president for operations, Martin Marietta Aerospace Corporation, president, Martin Marietta Denver Aerospace Company, and president and chief operating officer.  He was also chairman, advisory board Department of Aeromechanical Engineering, Princeton University and professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, Princeton University.  Mr. Augustine served as the president of Martin Marietta Aerospace Corporation between 1986 and 1987. He also served as the CEO of Martin Marietta from 1987 and as chairman of Martin Marietta from 1988. He is the chair of the audit committee of the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Additional nominees to the SMRB Board are:

Jeremy Berg, Ph.D., director, National Institute of General Medical Sciences
William R. Brody, M.D., Ph.D., president, Johns Hopkins University
Gail Cassell, Ph.D., vice president, Scientific Affairs and Distinguished Lilly Research Scholar for Infectious Diseases, Eli Lilly
Anthony Fauci, M.D., director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Dan Goldin, former NASA administrator
Richard Hodes, M.D., director, National Institute on Aging
Stephen Katz, M.D., director, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
Thomas Kelly, M.D., Ph.D., director, Sloan-Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Story Landis, Ph.D., director, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
John E. Niederhuber, M.D., director, National Cancer Institute
Deborah Powell, M.D., dean and assistant vice president for clinical science, University of Minnesota Medical School
Griffin Rodgers, M.D., director, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
William Roper, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine and CEO of Health Care System, University of North Carolina
Arthur Rubenstein, M.D., executive vice president, University of Pennsylvania for the Health System; dean, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Solomon H. Snyder, M.D., professor of psychiatry, Neurosciences and Pharmacology, Johns Hopkins University
Lawrence Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D., director, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
Harold Varmus, M.D., president, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Eugene Washington, M.D., Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, University of California, San Francisco
Huda Zoghbi, M.D., professor, HHMI Investigator, Baylor College of Medicine

The Office of the Director, the central office at NIH, is responsible for setting policy for NIH, which includes 27 Institutes and Centers. This involves planning, managing, and coordinating the programs and activities of all NIH components. The Office of the Director also includes program offices which are responsible for stimulating specific areas of research throughout NIH. Additional information is available at http://www.nih.gov/icd/od/.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

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