WASHINGTON-The Bush administration last month shaped the course of the two most important agencies for academic science within the federal bureaucracy by identifying its candidates for the directorships of the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Its choices also suggest that presidential science adviser Allan Bromley has gained the upper hand in such personnel decisions over a range of competing interests within the White House.
The selection of cardiologist Bernadine Healy, vice president of the research institute at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, to head NIH is expected to dispel criticism over a 14-month delay in replacing James Wyngaarden, who was forced out after seven years on the job. Healy's name was leaked to the press on September 9, and officials from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) later confirmed that her name would be sent to the Senate for confirmation once the mandatory background checks ...
