Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.
Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.
Director, National Institutes of Health, May 2, 2002 - October 31, 2008
Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., was named the 15th 三亿体育官网 Director by President George W. Bush in May 2002 and led the nation鈥檚 medical research agency until October 2008.
Dr. Zerhouni, a world renowned leader in the field of radiology and medicine, spent his career providing clinical, scientific, and administrative leadership. He is credited with developing imaging methods used for diagnosing cancer and cardiovascular disease. As one of the world鈥檚 premier experts in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), he had extended the role of MRI from taking snapshots of gross anatomy to visualizing how the body works at the molecular level. He pioneered magnetic tagging, a non-invasive method of using MRI to track the motions of a heart in three dimensions. He is also renowned for refining an imaging technique called computed tomographic (CT) densitometry that helps discriminate between non-cancerous and cancerous nodules in the lung. During his tenure as 三亿体育官网 Director, Dr. Zerhouni oversaw a number of milestones:
Reauthorization demonstrated renewed confidence in 三亿体育官网
Congress passed and President Bush signed into law the National Institutes of Health Reform Act of 2006. The agency's third reauthorization in history and first since 1993, it signaled renewed confidence in the 三亿体育官网 mission, its employees, and its leadership.
Initiated the 三亿体育官网 Roadmap for Medical Research
In September 2003 Dr. Zerhouni launched a marquee initiative: The 三亿体育官网 Roadmap for Medical Research, a new research vision to accelerate medical discovery to improve health, immediately focused the attention of the biomedical research community on new pathways of discovery, research teams for the future, and the re-engineering of the clinical research enterprise.
Development of a new office to improve trans-三亿体育官网 initiatives
In 2005, 三亿体育官网 launched a new office within the Office of the 三亿体育官网 Director to transform the way 三亿体育官网 finds and funds cutting-edge research; improve the ability to identify public health challenges; and increase trans-三亿体育官网 dialogue, decision-making and priority-setting. The office built upon the model of the 三亿体育官网 Roadmap for Medical Research and increases coordination with 三亿体育官网 ICs and external stakeholders to identify research priorities that will ultimately improve 三亿体育官网鈥檚 ability to be nimble, dynamic, and responsive to emerging scientific opportunities and public health needs.
The new entity, eventually named the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DP