In his first talk to NCI staff, director Norman “Ned” Sharpless presented himself as an institute insider—highlighting his career-long relationships with NCI and its “legends,” demonstrating his grasp of the institute’s agenda and research portfolio.
The Biden administration has left NIH in a weakened state, intensifying politicization of science on Capitol Hill and eroding the bipartisan support the government’s premier biomedical research agency has traditionally enjoyed.
