The between team

Written byBob Grant

| 1 min read

Executives at the Department of Health and Human Services have named a few acting agency heads as the US government prepares to transition into a new administration under President-Elect Barack Obama. There are no real surprises, with deputies or second-in-commands taking over next week and serving at top spots until successors are named by incoming HHS head linkurl:Tom Daschle;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55206/ or directly by Obama. Cancer biologist linkurl:Frank Torti,;http://www1.wfubmc.edu/canbio/Faculty/Torti+F.htm who spoke with __The Scientist__ last year when he was named the Food and Drug Administration's first ever Chief Scientist, will serve as FDA head starting on Inauguration Day, January 20th. You can hear a snippet of the conversation I had with Torti linkurl:here.;http://images.the-scientist.com/supplementary/audio/torti_cut.wav Other temporary assignments include linkurl:Raynard Kington;http://www.nih.gov/about/director/index.htm staying on as acting director of the National Institutes of Health, and Centers for Disease Control & Prevention chief operating officer linkurl:William Gimson;http://www.cdc.gov/about/leadership/leaders/gimson.htm taking over when current director linkurl:Julie Gerberding;http://www.cdc.gov/about/leadership/director.htm leaves the post. The Washington, D.C. rumor mill has suggested that genomicist linkurl:Francis Collins;http://www.the-scientist.com/community/posts/list/333.page may be next in line to serve as NIH director, and that Clinton-era FDA commissioner linkurl:Jane Henney;http://www.fda.gov/oc/commissioners/henney.html could return to her old post. Other names bandied about as potential FDA commissioners include another former comish, linkurl:David Kessler,;http://www.fda.gov/oc/commissioners/kessler.html and Cleveland Clinic cardiologist linkurl:Steven Nissen.;http://my.clevelandclinic.org/staff_directory/2/staff_1185.aspx
**__Related stories:__***linkurl:New NIH head talks budget, priorities;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55179/
[10th November 2008]*linkurl:FDA's 1st Chief Scientist speaks;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/54555/
[16th April 2008]*linkurl:Steve Nissen goes 0 for 2;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/53284/
[14th June 2007]*linkurl:Accelerating new drug development;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/19429/
[30th January 2001]

Meet the Author

Bob Grant

From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.

View Full Profile

The between team

The Scientist ARCHIVES

Become a Member of

Meet the Author

Bob Grant

Related Research Resources

A Stubborn Gene, a Failed Experiment, and a New Path

Research Resources

Podcasts

Webinars

Videos

Infographics

eBooks

Advancing Drug Discovery with Complex Human In Vitro Models

Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Maximizing Cancer Research Model Systems

Products

Product News

Sino Biological Pioneers Life Sciences Innovation with High-Quality Bioreagents on Inside Business Today with Bill and Guiliana Rancic

Sino Biological Expands Research Reagent Portfolio to Support Global Nipah Virus Vaccine and Diagnostic Development

Beckman Coulter Life Sciences Partners with Automata to Accelerate AI-Ready Laboratory Automation

Refeyn named in the Sunday Times 100 Tech list of the UK’s fastest-growing technology companies