Monica M. Bertagnolli, the 16th NCI director, has been confirmed as the 17th director of NIH—six months after the White House first named her to lead the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research.
Monica Bertagnolli testifies during her Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing to be the next NIH Director, Oct. 18, 2023 Photo credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty ImagesA Senate Committee Oct. 25 voted 15-6 to advance the confirmation of Monica Bertagnolli to the role of NIH director.
At a Senate hearing that considered her nomination to the post of NIH director, Monica Bertagnolli laid out an agenda that includes expanding access to clinical trials and making health care innovation affordable and accessible to the public.
A House oversight committee said it intends to exercise the power of subpoena to compel the NIH Office of the Director to turn over documents related to allegations of sexual harassment and workplace misconduct.
Nearly 80% of NIH staff will be furloughed if Congress fails to fund the federal government or pass a continuing resolution before midnight Saturday, Sept. 30—halting many administrative functions and nonclinical activities in the agency’s research pipelines.
With just days left before the end of September, and with it, the end of fiscal year 2023, NCI officials are preparing for rough times, both in the short term and long term.
A confirmation hearing for NCI Director Monica Bertagnolli will take place sometime in October, said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
The fiscal year 2024 Labor, HHS, Education, and Related Agencies spending bill heading for approval by the House Appropriations Committee cuts NIH by $2.8 billion and NCI by $216 million.
After taking eight months to respond to a House committee’s questions about policies on handling of sexual misconduct cases, a letter from NIH has provided answers that critics describe as vague and inadequate.
President Joe Biden’s 2024 budget proposal and the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 that was passed by the House last month will have a chilling effect on biomedical research, members of the Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee said at a hearing May 4.
