Tipsheet

This Endorsement of New NIAID Director Tells You Everything You Need to Know About Her

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  August 03, 2023 7:00 AM

The National Institutes of Health on Wednesday announced that Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo will be the new director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, replacing Dr. Anthony Fauci, who stepped down in December.

Marrazzo is currently director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

“Dr. Marrazzo brings a wealth of leadership experience from leading international clinical trials and translational research, managing a complex organizational budget that includes research funding and mentoring trainees in all stages of professional development,” said acting NIH director, Dr. Lawrence Tabak. “I look forward to welcoming Dr. Marrazzo to the NIH leadership team.”

Fauci gave CNN his full endorsement, telling the network “she’s a really good person” and that he was “very pleased by the choice.” 

He went on to provide a word of warning about what she would be stepping into. 

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 “What she’s facing now is going to be a very complicated issue of a number of emerging diseases, a high degree of advanced technology that is really an important part of the research effort on infectious diseases. Also, she’s going to be dealing with, unfortunately, as we’ve seen over the last few years, a very divisive political setting, where there’s been an unfortunate politicization of some of the science,” he said.

Social media users highlighted some telling clips of Marrazzo.