Longtime No. 2 at NIH Tapped to Serve as Acting Director (1)

An NIH veteran and longtime second-in-command will take over as acting director of the agency Dec. 20 as Francis S. Collins ends his lengthy tenure at the head of the agency.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Thursday announced Lawrence A. Tabak’s appointment as acting director. Tara A. Schwetz, the White House point person on President Joe Biden’s proposal to establish a biomedical incubator, will step into Tabak’s current role as acting principal deputy director Dec. 20.

The announcement was largely expected as Tabak has served as principal deputy director, essentially the second-in-command, at the National Institutes of ...