NIH Extramural Research Head Resigns

Sally Rockey, deputy director of extramural research at the National Institutes of Health, is leaving the agency this fall to lead an agriculture nonprofit.

Written byJef Akst

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WIKIMEDIA, NIHSally Rockey, long-time deputy director of extramural research at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), is resigning to accept a position at a new nonprofit called the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, she announced today (June 11).

“It is bittersweet for me,” she wrote on her popular blog Rock Talk. “It has been an extraordinarily hard decision to leave NIH, an incredible agency with an incredible mission, one of which I have loved being part. Working with the extramural community has been an amazing experience, as your work contributes so much to improving lives around the nation, and around the world, through your research.”

The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, which is just one year old, handles private donations to research at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). “This is a newly formed foundation that I will lead through its formative first years,” Rockey wrote. “This position brings together my experience at NIH and my previous 19 years with the USDA. ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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