US National Institutes of Health picks successor to Fauci to head infectious diseases agency

WASHINGTON – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) selected Dr Jeanne Marrazzo to lead the nation’s top infectious disease research agency, securing a successor to Dr Anthony Fauci, who held the role for almost four decades. 

Dr Marrazzo will be the director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the agency said in a statement on Wednesday.

In this role, Dr Marrazzo will support research to advance the prevention and treatment of diseases in the United States and abroad. She currently serves as the director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and is expected to assume the chief NIAID role in autumn. 

“Dr Marrazzo brings a wealth of leadership experience from leading international clinical trials and translational research, managing a complex organisational budget that includes research funding and mentoring trainees in all stages of professional development,” Dr Lawrence A. Tabak, the acting director for the NIH, said in a statement.

Dr Marrazzo, 61, has spent decades collaborating with the NIH on research focused on HIV and sexually transmitted infections, and has frequently served on its advisory committees.

She has also been chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Council and the ABIM Infectious Disease Speciality Board. She holds degrees from Harvard, Thomas Jefferson University and the University of Washington. 

She will also be the first woman to lead NIAID, which is the second largest of the NIH’s 27 institutes and centres after the National Cancer Institute, with an annual budget of $6.3 billion (S$8.5 billion). 

Professor Preeti Malani, an infectious diseases professor at the University of Michigan and a friend of Dr Marrazzo, described the incoming NIAID chief as a good listener and communicator. “She quietly behind the scenes will support, sponsor and mentor so many,” she said.

In an interview, Dr Fauci, 82, also praised his successor, emphasising her research on sexually transmitted diseases among women.

“She’s been one of the leading clinical investigators in the arena of clinical trials,” he said. “She’s done a very, very good job of that. She’s well liked, well recognised, highly respected, and is just a really, really good person. I could not be more delighted about this.”

He added that he spoke with her after the announcement and told her “let the north star be the science, the evidence, the data, and just stick with that”, which he said she will have no trouble doing.

“Just be prepared that there will be attacks on what she does – no matter what she does,” he said. “But she has a very strong personality. And I believe she will easily be able to handle that.”

Dr Fauci, who left the post in December, served as NIAID director for 38 years – and at the NIH more broadly for more than half a century. Throughout his tenure, he advised seven US presidents on infectious disease threats, spanning from HIV/AIDS to Ebola to Zika. More recently, he became known as “America’s Doctor” while helping to lead the US’ coronavirus pandemic response. 

Since Dr Fauci’s departure, Dr Hugh Auchincloss has been acting director of NIAID.

The Biden administration has not been able to secure a permanent director to run the broader agency after long-time NIH director Francis Collins stepped down at the end of 2021.

Though it nominated Dr Monica Bertagnolli for the post, Senator Bernie Sanders, chair of the Senate’s health committee, has said he will not advance any health nomination without a plan from the White House on lowering prescription drug prices.

The NIH can install Dr Marrazzo and other centre directors without a presidential appointment or Senate confirmation. Bloomberg