Painful transition at the NIH

摘要

Leading the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the presidency of George W. Bush was always going to be a challenging assignment. That much was clear four years ago this week, when Elias Zerhouni, an Algerian-born radiologist with a strong administrative track record at Johns Hopkins University, was confirmed in the position by the US Senate. Zerhouni has, on the whole, handled this potentially poisoned chalice adroitly (see page 17). But this year, as three years of flat budgets begin to bite, Zerhouni's tenure at the NIH is being openly attacked by some scientists. The focus of their ire is his 'Roadmap', a set of activities that run across different NIH institutes and attempt to implement Zerhouni's vision for the agency. The critics say that the Roadmap isn't working and is diverting resources and attention from basic scientific research.