Lawrence Tabak, past director of the Center for Oral Biology, will be acting director of the nation’s foremost medical research agency.
Lawrence Tabak, a former University of Rochester faculty member and noted dental science researcher, will lead the National Institutes of Health on an interim basis, beginning this month.
Tabak, who was senior associate dean for research and a professor of dentistry and of biochemistry and biophysics at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, assumes the acting leadership role on Monday, December 20, following the departure of longtime NIH director Francis Collins.
First dentist to lead NIH
The new position is the latest in a series of leadership roles that Tabak has held at NIH during the last 20 years. He joined the agency from Rochester in 2000 as director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, and he has served as the principal deputy director and the deputy ethics counselor of NIH since 2009. He is believed to be the first dentist to lead the NIH.
In making the announcement, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said he’s confident that Tabak’s long tenure and broad experience will help ensure that the agency is in capable hands as a search for Collins’s successor is under way.
“Dr. Tabak has a deep grasp of the most pressing scientific issues confronting our nation, he has earned respect across NIH as a thoughtful and strategic manager and is committed to building a healthier and more equitable America,” Becerra said.
Established in 1887, the NIH is considered one of the world’s leading medical research centers. An agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, the NIH is the federal government’s focal point for health research. The director sets policies and oversees the agency’s 27 institutes and centers.
Research leader at Rochester
Tabak joined the University faculty in 1986 as an associate professor of dental research and associate professor of biochemistry. He served as chair of dental research before being named director of the Center for Oral Biology (now part of the Eastman Institute for Oral Health) and senior associate dean for research in 1998. He joined the NIH in 2000.
A former recipient of NIH support, Tabak has focused his research on the structure, biosynthesis, and function of glycoproteins. He continues to work in that area, maintaining a research laboratory within the NIH.
He is an elected member the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academies. He received his undergraduate degree from City College of New York, his dental degree from Columbia University, and a PhD from the University of Buffalo.
