Larry Tabak, NIH’s longtime second-in-command, to retire – STAT

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By Lev Facher Feb. 12, 2025
Addiction Reporter Larry Tabak, the longtime No. 2 official at the National Institutes of Health, is retiring, according to two sources familiar with his decision. Tabak, a dentist and researcher, was appointed as the NIH’s principal deputy director in 2010. His tenure spans four presidential administrations, and includes a nearly two-year stint as the agency’s acting director following the 2021 departure of its longtime leader, Francis Collins. advertisementThat Tabak, at the age of 73, is retiring is hardly a shock. But it comes at a time of deep uncertainty for the NIH, the federal government’s $47 billion biomedical research agency. The NIH did not immediately respond to STAT’s request for comment. Since Trump’s inauguration three weeks ago, the agency has experienced unprecedented turmoil. While the NIH has long been viewed as a “crown jewel” by both parties on Capitol Hill, the Trump administration immediately moved to upend many of its core functions. advertisementIn particular, a freeze spanning the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the NIH, forced the agency to cancel scores of study sections — committee meetings where experts make decisions about which research grant applications to fund. Last week, the Trump administration also moved to cap indirect costs, or the share of research grants that fund overhead expenses as opposed to scientific activities, at 15%. While the administration says the move could help streamline the agency and ensure more of its dollars directly support cutting-edge research, the move is likely to upend the country’s entire biomedical research ecosystem, costing numerous universities in excess of $100 million.Tabak’s tenure spanned four presidential administrations: Obama, Trump, Biden, and now Trump again. For much of his tenure, he served as second-in-command to Collins, who led the agency from 2009 to 2021, and more recently to Monica Bertagnolli, who served from 2023 until the waning days of the Biden administration. President Trump has nominated Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford researcher known for criticizing Covid-19 lockdowns, as the new NIH director, though the Senate has not announced a timeline for confirmation hearings or votes. In the meantime, Matthew Memoli, a researcher at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who publicly opposed former director Anthony Fauci’s advocacy for vaccine mandates, is serving as acting director.  STAT’s coverage of chronic health issues is supported by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Our financial supporters are not involved in any decisions about our journalism.Lev FacherAddiction ReporterLev Facher covers the U.S. addiction and overdose crisis.Washington never stops. Cut through the noise with our essential updates on health care politics and policy
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Source: https://www.statnews.com/2025/02/12/nih-deputy-larry-tabak-retiring-trump-administration/