Longtime cancer doctor Monica Bertagnolli is finally heading to the National Institutes of Health director’s office after a nearly two-year effort to install a permanent leader atop the $48 billion science agency.
The Senate voted 62-36 Tuesday to confirm her nomination, giving the White House clearance to officially name Bertagnolli the institute’s director, the second woman ever to fill the role. The move comes nearly two years after veteran NIH director Francis Collins retired, igniting a nationwide search for someone to oversee the campus’ 27 institutes and navigate the increasingly political landscape around the agency’s research.
She’ll also assume the role weeks before a potential government shutdown over budget disputes that could freeze a range of NIH work and bring the first funding cuts in years for an agency that typically sees bipartisan support in Washington.
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