The director of internal research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is stepping away from the agency to return to her academic roots. Nina Schor, M.D., Ph.D., will officially stop serving as head of the NIH’s Office of Intramural Research (OIR) on Sept. 30, the agency announced in a Sept. 17 statement.
Schor is heading back to the University of Rochester, where she was a professor for 12 years before joining the NIH at the beginning of 2018. An NIH spokesperson confirmed to Fierce Biotech that Schor’s departure from the agency is voluntary.
Roland Owens, Ph.D., the principal deputy director of the OIR, will replace Schor as acting director once she departs, according to the statement.
Schor, a neurologist by training, started her NIH career as deputy director of the NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke before being tapped to lead the OIR in August 2022.
While the NIH is most known for funding academic research at universities and institutions across the country, the agency also operates a robust internal research program with a budget topping $5 billion in 2024.
Schor is the latest health leader to depart the federal government since the start of the second Trump administration, some on better terms than others. Susan Monarez, Ph.D., was fired as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at the end of August after clashing with her boss, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., on vaccine policy; a group of top CDC leaders willingly followed Monarez out the door in protest.
Also last month, the chief data officer at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) resigned in protest of the HHS’ termination of about $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccine development. ARPA-H leader Renee Wegrzyn, Ph.D., was let go from the agency in February.