Biden Faces NIH, FDA Leadership Vacancies as Pandemic Drags On

The retirement of longtime National Institutes of Health chief Francis S. Collins leaves the Biden administration with another health agency position to fill as the White House faces a looming deadline to find a permanent head of the FDA.

Collins, who has led the NIH since 2009, said Tuesday he plans to retire by the end of the year after nearly three decades at the agency. President Joe Biden is expected to pick an NIH director before Collins steps down, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing Tuesday.

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks, with Dr. Francis Collins in the background, during a visit to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., on Feb. 11, 2021.

Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

“In the meantime the American people can rest assured ...