Hopkins' Zerhouni picked to lead NIH

President Bush officially announced his nomination of Dr. Elias Zerhouni to direct the National Institutes of Health (NIH) this past Tuesday in a ceremony held in the East Room of the White House. Zerhouni is currently the Executive Vice Dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and now awaits confirmation from the Senate before he can fill the position.

In a ceremonial acceptance speech, Zerhouni, who emigrated from Algeria with his wife 27 years ago, said, "I never dreamed of serving my country [in this capacity]."

Zerhouni is declining all interview requests until after confirmation hearings.

The Radiology and Biomedical Engineering professor pledged, if confirmed by the Senate, to "continue the noble mission of NIH and help improve health care."

Zerhouni's background is in radiology and he has been, in addition to Executive Vice Dean, Chairman of the Department of Radiology of the School of Medicine since 1996.

"Dr. Zerhouni is well-prepared to manage this rapidly growing institution [NIH] during times of great new opportunity and urgent bio-defense needs," the President said in his introductory remarks.

"He has supervised research at Johns Hopkins, one of our nation's leading research facilities. One former colleague calls him a quadruple threat: a doctor who excels at teaching, researching, patient care and management."

University President William Brody called Bush's choice of Zerhouni an "absolutely spectacular nomination," and said he agreed with the President's quadruple threat characterization of the doctor.

"He will bring a great understanding of the importance of basic biomedical research and in coupling that research to clinical advances," Brody said.

In an official statement, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tommy Thompson expressed his approval of Zerhouni, calling the doctor "a proven manager, well prepared to lead NIH through a time of great expansion and challenge."

Other colleagues expressed their praise for Zerhouni in official statements.

Dean and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine Edward D. Miller said, "Those of us who have had the great pleasure of working with Elias Zerhouni...know that this nation will be fortunate indeed to have him as director of the NIH. Over and over again, he has demonstrated that he is a visionary leader who understands how science can improve health."

Said Johns Hopkins Medicine Director of Neurology John Griffin: "As Executive Vice Dean at Johns Hopkins he has been enormously respected by both basic scientists and by clinicians. With Elias Zerhouni as its leader the NIH will, to my mind, be in excellent hands."

Despite the enormous support generated by politicians and colleagues, Zerhouni's nomination does come with potential controversy in the political and medical arena. An article in yesterday's Washington Post reported that some social conservatives and Republicans have been assured that Zerhouni supports a broad ban on human cloning that is outlined in a bill sponsored by Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.). According to the article, the bill would make illegal the reproductive cloning of humans, as well as the cloning of a person's own cells for the purposes of treating illnesses, such as Parkinson's.

Zerhouni played a key role in launching Hopkins' Institute for Cell Engineering (ICE), made possible by a $58.5 million anonymous donation. In a Hopkins press release, Miller said that Zerhouni "was able to convey to the donor the exciting potential of [a venture such as ICE]."

Griffin said Zerhouni was "pivotal" in setting up ICE. "He saw early the need for basic biology of stem cells and engineered cells, and for facts rather than publicity in this area," Griffin said.

Work done at Hopkins thus far has involved cells taken from fetal tissue, with the question of taking cells from human embryos left open.

President Bush, in his ceremonial remarks, said, "Dr. Zerhouni shares my view that human life is precious, and should not be exploited or destroyed for the benefits of others. And he shares my view that the promise of ethically conducted medical research is limitless."

Bush added, "As Director of the NIH, Dr. Zerhouni will be at the forefront of our efforts to promote biomedical research with a careful regard for the bounds of medical ethics."

When asked about Zerhouni's views toward stem cell research and reports concerning his dealings with the Bush administration, Brody said, "I cannot speak for what Dr. Zerhouni's position will be, nor what he and President Bush might have agreed upon prior to his being nominated. He will speak shortly for himself during the Senate confirmation hearings. I have the utmost confidence that he will provide balanced leadership -- pushing the importance of doing sound science before moving into clinical trials on stem cells or related technologies.