People In Brief
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Zerhouni leaving NIH: National Institutes of Health Director Elias Zerhouni will leave his post at the end of October to pursue other opportunities, according to a Sept. 24 letter to NIH staff. He says he is "extremely fortunate to have led the agency that has been at the center of" a biomedical science revolution, "one that continues to have broad and profound implications for human health." Zerhouni says he will work with Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt to appoint his successor at NIH. A same-day NIH release details Zerhouni's achievements since his confirmation as director in 2002, including establishing ethics regulations to address outside consulting by NIH employees and starting public health research initiatives, such as the NIH Obesity Research Task Force (1"The Tan Sheet" May 6, 2002, In Brief and 2"The Tan Sheet" Aug. 29, 2005, p. 11)