Eugene Washington
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Elias A. Zerhouni, MD, has nominated Eugene Washington, MD, executive vice chancellor and provost at UCSF, among leaders 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 flexibility and responsiveness.
The 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 priorities determined by institutes and centers, ensure that 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 Zerhouni. “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.”
Washington, a professor of gynecology and epidemiology, is an internationally renowned clinical investigator and health policy analyst who has been a leader in assessing medical technologies and shaping national health policies.
At UCSF, Washington co-chaired the UCSF Strategic Planning Board, which led to the development of the UCSF Strategic Plan. Unveiled in June 2007, the plan represents the best thinking from across the campus community, establishes institutional priorities and serves as a guide to chart UCSF’s course as a global leader in health sciences over the next decade.
A 1976 graduate of the UCSF School of Medicine, Washington completed graduate studies at both UC Berkeley and Harvard schools of public health and residency training at Stanford University. He was named executive vice chancellor in 2003 after having chaired the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at UCSF.
Norman R. Augustine has been nominated to serve as the SMRB’s first chairman. Augustine is the former chairman of the executive committee of Lockheed Martin Corporation.
Additional nominees to the SMRB board are:
• Jeremy Berg, PhD, director, National Institute of General Medical Sciences
• William R. Brody, MD, PhD, president, Johns Hopkins University
• Gail Cassell, PhD, vice president, Scientific Affairs, and Distinguished Lilly Research Scholar for Infectious Diseases, Eli Lilly and Company
• Anthony Fauci, MD, director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• Dan Goldin, former NASA administrator
• Richard Hodes, MD, director, National Institute on Aging
• Stephen Katz, MD, director, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
• Thomas Kelly, MD, PhD, director, Sloan-Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
• Story Landis, PhD, director, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
• Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD, director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
• John E. Niederhuber, MD, director, National Cancer Institute
• Deborah Powell, MD, dean and assistant vice president for clinical sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School
• Griffin Rodgers, MD, director, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
• William Roper, MD, dean of the School of Medicine and CEO of Health Care System, University of North Carolina
• Arthur Rubenstein, MBBCh, executive vice president, Health System, and dean, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
• Solomon H. Snyder, MD, professor of psychiatry, neuroscience and pharmacology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Lawrence Tabak, DDS, PhD, director, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
• Harold Varmus, MD, president, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
• Huda Zoghbi, MD, professor of molecular and human genetics, pediatrics, neurology and neuroscience and 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 NIH — the Nation’s Medical Research Agency — includes 27 institutes and centers and is a component of the US Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes of, and treatments and cures for, both common and rare diseases.
