NIH ’s new chief, Monica Bertagnolli, wants greater ‘equity’ in biomedical research

The new director of the National Institutes of Health said today her highest priority is making NIH-funded clinical research more inclusive and more accessible to the public. “Equity will guide my approach to leading NIH,” Monica Bertagnolli told reporters in her first news conference, a 40-minute Zoom call. But Bertagnolli, a cancer surgeon who became head of NIH last month, did not unveil any specific programs for achieving her goals and tiptoed around hot-button issues such as whether NIH should exert so-called march-in rights on patents to control drug prices and its role in cracking down on the undisclosed foreign ties of NIH-funded scientists. Bertagnolli spent much of her career at Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Dana-Faber Cancer Institute before becoming head of the National Cancer Institute in October 2022. Seven months later, President Joe Biden nominated her to replace geneticist Francis Collins, who led the now–$47 billion NIH for 12 years before stepping down in December 2021. Senator Bernie Sanders (I–VT) delayed her confirmation hearing because of concerns NIH wasn’t exercising its authority to control the prices of drugs derived from NIH-funded research, for example by reclaiming the rights to license patented drugs to additional manufacturers or the government itself. Her hearing finally took place in October , and on 7 November she was confirmed by a vote of 62 to 36. She is NIH...
Source: ScienceNOW - Category: Science Source Type: news