The U.S. National Institutes of Health is seeking to fill nearly half of its top roles at breakneck speed following a wave of departures since President Donald Trump’s return to office in January, according to job postings on its website and interviews with two current and three former NIH officials.
The agency, which contains 27 institutes and centers, posted job advertisements for 11 of 13 vacant directorships Nov. 7, initially giving candidates two weeks to apply but later extending the deadline until Dec. 12. The other two jobs were posted in September.
The overhaul of directors, who play a crucial role in setting the research and scientific mission of the agency as well as securing funding, could affect grants and projects that often extend beyond a single presidential term.
The Trump administration inherited an NIH with three top-level vacancies. Since then, three more directors have retired, two left for other NIH roles, and six were fired or let go as part of the government’s mass layoffs in health agencies.
It fired 1,200 of NIH’s 20,000-person workforce.
The vacant directorships include those at institutes responsible for researching infectious diseases and vaccines; child and reproductive health; mental health; biomedical research; health disparities; global health cooperation; as well as the NIH’s clinical center.
The wide recruitment and short application window are described by former and current NIH officials as unprecedented, both in the number of simultaneous searches and the targeted speed, raising concerns over the integrity and effectiveness of the process.
NIH Races to Fill Half Its Top Roles After Mass Exodus
