NIH Executive Leadership Program

Testimonials

"I have a better ability to recognize potential new opportunities and willingness to take risks."

"I have an increased understanding of the external influencers."

"I feel more confident to handle crises, and more outgoing and confident in my ability to network. I have also be experimenting with presentation and framing ideas."

"I wanted to accomplish two things: first, to be able to understand better when to toggle between management and leadership - to understand the differences better. Second, to be able to project/express empathy to my staff. I feel I learned both of these things very successfully - I'm so happy!"

"I've worked very hard to apply many of the leadership activities and lessons into my day to-day business. Not just for an improvement in my management style, but to exert and promote leadership qualities that I value."

"It helped bring clarity to me about what I want to do next, professionally."

"Learned a great deal about positive management and managing crisis. Provided an opportunity to think about transition and change in the organization and how to adapt more nimbly."

"Networking, communication skills, self-reflection, and better understanding of NIH."

"Public speaking and how to respond to the press. Some ideas about where to get additional resources for growth and better understanding of the challenges faced by other NIH leaders."

"Self-awareness, confidence, and tools for managing crisis."

"Taking time to think about my leadership styles and how I engage effectively with my stakeholders and colleagues, and supervisors etc."

"{ExLP} Was my first Leadership training, and I learned so much about how I reacted before and led meetings and discussions, and how to improve. I know I'm a much better leader now."

"Networking with peers and current leadership!"

Georg Aue, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A.

Deputy Clinical Director
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Georg Aue is Deputy Clinical Director, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, currently serving as the Acting Clinical Director. By background, he is a hematologist and maintains board certifications in hematology, medical oncology and internal medicine. His research focuses on stem cell transplantation for marrow failure syndromes. Dr. Aue has authored over 35 peer-reviewed papers and 30 clinical trials, including first in human studies leading to U.S. Food and Drug Administration treatment approvals. 

Dr. Aue joined the office of the Clinical Director in 2013. He has led, supervised, changed and improved many NHLBI clinical programs including Patient Safety, Research Nursing and Protocol Coordination, Patient Engagement & Recruitment, Protocol Navigation, Clinical Data Management, Advanced Practitioners, Hospitalist Nocturnist as well as Biospecimens oversight. Since 2019, he has served as Deputy Clinical Director.

Dr. Aue received his MD and PhD from University of Göttingen in 1996 and a MBA from New York University Stern School of Business in 2021. He completed internal medicine training at Drexel University in 2003 and hematology-oncology training at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute/ National Cancer Institute in 2006.

---

Kapil Bharti, Ph.D.

Scientific Director/Senior Investigator
National Eye Institute

Dr. Kapil Bharti obtained his Ph.D. from J.W. Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, graduating summa cum laude. His Ph.D. work involved research in the areas of molecular chaperones and epigenetics. He did his postdoc at the National Institutes of Health, where he published numerous papers in the areas of transcription regulation, pigment cell biology, and developmental biology of the eye. His lab at the National Eye Institute recently received started the first U.S. phase I/IIa trial to test autologous iPSC-derived RPE patch in AMD patients.

Currently, he is co-developing a dual RPE/photoreceptor cell therapy with Opsis Therapeutics. He has given 27 keynote and named lectures, won several awards including the NIH Director’s award, NEI Directors Dr. Karl Kupfer Visionary award, and Sayer Vision Research lecture at NEI, and over two dozen keynote/award lectures for his revolutionary work on developing ocular cell-therapies.

He serves on the advisory board (pro bono) of several stem cell therapy-based companies and patient-advocacy groups. His current work as a Senior Investigator at NEI involves understanding the mechanism of retinal degenerative diseases using induced pluripotent stem cell derived eye cells and tissues and developing cell-based and drug-based therapies for such diseases. He is also the Director of the NEI Intramural Research Program where he oversees 21 research labs and 6 core facilities.

---

Jeffrey Diamond, Ph.D.

Scientific Director/Senior Investigator
National Institute of Neurological Disorders
and Stroke

Jeff Diamond was appointed Scientific Director of NINDS in August 2023 (after serving in an acting role for a year) and has directed a laboratory within the NINDS Intramural Research Program since 1999. As Scientific Director, Jeff is responsible for: programmatic oversight, review, and evaluation of research programs; fostering a rich mentoring and training environment for intramural scientists; managing and allocating research, IT, and fiscal resources; and cultivating a collaborative community within NINDS’s intramural program, between NINDS and other institutes, and with extramural colleagues.

Jeff was born and raised in Pennsylvania, received his B.S. from Duke University and his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Francisco in 1994, where he studied visual signaling in the retina. During a postdoctoral fellowship in Portland, Oregon, Jeff studied synaptic transmission in the hippocampus. He came to NINDS in 1999, won the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering in 2000, and was promoted to Senior Investigator in 2007. His laboratory studies how synapses, neurons and small circuits perform computational tasks required for visual information processing in the mammalian retina.

Jeff and Kelly, his wife of 33 years, live in Bethesda. Their two children, Julia (27) and Brian (24), live in Wisconsin and Oregon, respectively. In his free time, Jeff enjoys cooking, golfing, skiing, and making furniture.

---

Jothi Dugar, B.S.

Chief Information Security Officer
Center for Information Technology

With over 25 years of experience, Jothi Dugar is a leading cybersecurity executive who knows what it’s like to be the only female executive in the room. She is a catalyst for change, inspiring transformational leadership as a holistic wellness specialist and certified life coach, international best-selling author & motivational speaker, dance director, and a mom of three. She is passionate about empowering women to take charge of their lives and break through the glass ceiling.

Jothi leverages her expertise to serve as Chief Information Security Officer at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s Center for Information Technology (CIT) and raises the bar on cybersecurity every day using her holistic and forward-thinking mindset to provide innovative thought leadership.

Jothi recently served as Acting Deputy Director of CIT for two years (2022-2024). In this role, she strategically managed the direction of scientific and administrative computational and telecommunications requirements. 
 
Jothi has also been a profound champion of wellness and staff development. As an Executive Sponsor of Employee Engagement, she created new initiatives including the innovative Women in Tech program and Leaders Unplugged series, which have been successful in enhancing well-being and development of the workforce. She serves as a professional federal coach for NIH employees seeking support in their career and in life and initiated the first CIT Mentorship Program. 

---

Shawn Drew Gaillard, Ph.D.

Director, Division of Genetics and Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (GMCDB)
National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Dr. Gaillard is the Genetics and Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (GMCDB) division director at NIGMS, a position she has held since February 2022.  The Division is comprised of three branches (genetic mechanisms, developmental and cellular processes and cell biology) and has 20 program officers and three branch chiefs.  The annual ~$1B budget supports some 2,400 principal investigators across the country.

Gaillard’s duties include setting scientific priorities, leading change and improving the research enterprise.  She plans and directs a national research program, identifying the research needs in the areas of genetics and molecular, cellular and developmental biology that’s supported by the Division.  She makes recommendations to assist NIGMS Director Jon Lorsch and NIGMS Council. Prior to the division director role, Gaillard was chief of the developmental and cellular processes branch in GMCDB.    

Dr. Gaillard was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in the Maryland suburbs. She graduated from Spelman College in Atlanta, GA and soon after started her career at NIH in the intramural program conducting research at NEI in the laboratory of Dr. Anna Chepelinsky before heading off to graduate school.  She completed her predoctoral research and postdoctoral fellowship training at NIDDK in the laboratory of Dr. Griffin Rogers. Shawn enjoys helping others achieve their scientific goals; her career is one where she gets to ‘pay it forward’ to assist others as her mentors supported and influenced her. In her leisure time, Shawn enjoys home design (HGTV is her favorite TV network!) and loves getting decorating ideas and inspiration by touring model/custom homes with her husband and teenage daughter. 

---

Satish Gopal, M.D., M.P.H.

Director, Center for Global Health 
National Cancer Institute

Satish Gopal was appointed Director of the Center for Global Health (CGH) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 2020. In this role, he oversees the development of initiatives and collaborations with other NCI and NIH partners, NCI-designated cancer centers, and other governmental and nongovernmental organizations to support cancer research, promote science-based cancer control, and build research capacity in low- and middle-income countries. Before coming to NCI, Dr. Gopal was the Cancer Program Director for the University of North Carolina collaboration with the Malawi Ministry of Health.

Dr. Gopal earned his medical degree from the Duke University School of Medicine in 2001. He completed training in internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Michigan, lived and worked in Tanzania from 2007 to 2009, then returned to the United States to pursue medical oncology and infectious disease training at the University of North Carolina. He lived with his family in Malawi from 2012 to 2019, when he was the only medical oncologist in the country and treated public sector cancer patients at the national teaching hospital alongside Malawian colleagues. He returned frequently to provide clinical service in the North Carolina Cancer Hospital.

As an extramural physician-scientist, his NIH-funded research program focused on epidemiologic, clinical, and translational studies of lymphoma and HIV-associated malignancies in Africa and he oversaw a multidisciplinary cancer research portfolio which sought to address many of the commonest cancers in the region, including cervical, breast, and esophageal cancer. This program generated some of the first published studies in Africa to describe detailed molecular profiles for specific cancer types, characterize several unique lymphoproliferative disorders, report clinical trials of targeted cancer therapy, perform economic evaluations of cancer treatment, and integrate patient-reported outcome measurements. He has authored more than 130 publications in journals such as NEJM, JAMA, Lancet, and Nature Medicine among others, and mentored more than 30 early-career U.S. and African pre- and post-doctoral cancer researchers, many of whom hold academic positions in global oncology at NCI-designated cancer centers, African academic institutions, and other international organizations.

He has spoken widely and provided leadership and expertise on various working groups, review committees, and boards. As an adjunct intramural investigator at the NCI, he continues clinical and translational research related to lymphoid malignancies in Africa. He previously served as the Associate Chair for African International Sites for the NCI AIDS Malignancy Consortium (AMC) with oversight responsibility for the network’s African clinical trials. He currently serves as the US representative on the Scientific Council for the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and as an Ex Officio Advisory Board Member for the NIH Fogarty International Center. He is also a recipient of the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology Humanitarian Award.

---

Catherine Gordon, M.D., M.S.

Clinical Director
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Dr. Gordon became Clinical Director of the NICHD in September 2023.  She is board certified in Pediatric Endocrinology, Adolescent Medicine, and Clinical Densitometry and remains clinically active as a Pediatric Endocrine consultant for the NIH Clinical Center. She also leads a laboratory in the Division of Intramural Research – Section on Adolescent Bone Density and Body Composition.  

Prior to joining NIH, Dr. Gordon spent much of her career at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She has been actively involved in clinical/translational research, scientific mentoring, and medical education, and has directed bone health programs, clinical research centers, clinical divisions, and chaired a pediatrics department. Throughout her career, she has also provided clinical care to children and teenagers as a pediatric endocrinologist and adolescent medicine specialist. For over two decades, Dr. Gordon led an independently funded research group with a focus on modifiable factors during adolescence that influence bone density and other aspects of health during the adult years, and ways to optimize the transition of healthcare for young adults. She has a special interest in the assessment of bone density and bone marrow composition in adolescents and young adults with pediatric-onset chronic disease. 

Dr. Gordon received her medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and subsequently completed a residency in Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, followed by a combined fellowship in Pediatric Endocrinology and Adolescent Medicine. She also received an MS in Clinical Investigation from Harvard Medical School.

---

Matthew Hall, Ph.D. 

Scientific Director 
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences

Matt is the scientific director of NCATS and a senior scientist in the Early Translation Branch (ETB) within the center’s intramural Division of Preclinical Innovation. In his role as the scientific director, he leads the center’s intramural research and related initiatives. Hall joined NCATS in 2015 as a biology group leader in the ETB (then the NCATS Chemical Genomics Center) and served as branch director from 2021 until his promotion to his current position in 2024. He earned his B.Sc. degree with first class honors and his PhD from the University of Sydney in Australia. Hall came to the US via an American Australian Association Sir Keith Murdoch Fellowship at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He completed his postdoctoral work in the Laboratory of Cell Biology at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) under Dr. Michael M. Gottesman, studying cancer multidrug resistance. Hall became a staff scientist and led several collaborative research programs.

Hall has worked to build partnerships with other institutes at NIH to address unmet medical needs. He is currently co-chair of the NCI Chemical Biology Consortium, was co-chair of the NIH ACTIV TRACE addressing COVID variants and therapeutics, oversees a NCATS collaborative program for the NIH HEAL Initiative, created a discovery partnership with the NCI Natural Products Program, and played a role establishing the Antiviral Program for Pandemics with NIAID and Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). Matt’s research is part of an integrated team environment. He develops and optimizes new drug discovery approaches for automated, high-throughput small molecule discovery. Collaborative drug discovery programs are initiated in collaboration with both NIH and extramural partners, working in a team environment with medicinal chemistry and chem-informatics groups. His research has a strong research emphasis on rare and neglected diseases.

Matt has published more than 190 peer-reviewed papers, and has received NCATS and NIH Directors Awards, and a HHS Secretary’s Award for Meritorious Service. In 2023, Hall was admitted as an Honorary Fellow of the University of Sydney in recognition of his substantial contributions to the university’s interests and welfare over many years.

---

Monica Webb Hooper, Ph.D.

Deputy Director 
National Institute on Minority and Health Disparities

Dr. Monica Webb Hooper is Deputy Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She is an internationally recognized licensed clinical health psychologist and translational behavioral scientist, with a 20+ year history of working every day to improve the health and quality of life among underserved communities. Her collaborative, community engaged science seeks to prevent or reduce the impact of chronic illnesses on populations with health disparities. Through her science and practice, Dr. Webb Hooper has directly improved the health of thousands of adults and families from racial and ethnic minority groups, developing and delivering successful treatments for overcoming addictions, such as tobacco smoking, achieving personal weight management goals, reducing distress and mental health concerns (e.g., anxiety or depression), and improving partner and family relationships.

NIMHD leads and supports cutting edge science to improve minority health, reduce health disparities, and promote health equity. As NIMHD Deputy Director, Dr. Webb Hooper partners with the Director on overall executive direction and scientific leadership of the institute. Her leadership paves the way for successful implementation of large-scale community-engaged research programs and for more inclusive research opportunities within NIH and the extramural scientific community. She leads working groups for several interdisciplinary scientific initiatives across NIH and NIMHD. Dr. Webb Hooper is also highly committed to the equitable and inclusive training of the next cadre of scientists who are invested in improving population health, community health, and global health. Perhaps most importantly, Dr. Webb Hooper is deeply committed to partnering with underserved individuals, groups, and communities who are most affected by persistent racism and discrimination – and the healthcare disparities that are the result. The mantra of her work is “science and partnerships that benefit and serve communities.”

Overall, Dr. Webb Hooper is dedicated to the scientific study of minority health and racial and ethnic disparities, and interventions to reduce them. She has published over 100 articles and book chapters and has been featured in numerous editorials throughout her career. Indeed, the mantra of her work is “science and partnerships that benefit and serve communities.” Academic Influence has identified Dr. Webb Hooper as one of 25 Influential Black Psychologists from the Last 30 Years (https://academicinfluence.com/rankings/people/black-scholars/psychologists), and one of 50 most cited and searched Black anthropologists (including the social sciences, biological sciences, physical sciences, and the humanities) over the past 30 years (https://academicinfluence.com/rankings/people/black-scholars/anthropologists)

---

Paule V. Joseph, Ph.D., M.B.A., M.S., FNP-BC, FTCNS, FAAN

Clinical Investigator/Chief of Sensory Science and Metabolism (SenSMet) 
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Paule V. Joseph, Ph.D., MBA, MS, FNP-BC, FTCNS, FAAN, is an Afro-Latina (Venezuelan American) scientist. She serves as a Lasker Clinical Scholar at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and a Distinguished Scholar at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). She is Chief of the Sensory Science and Metabolism Section (SenSMet) at the Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research and co-director of the NIH National Smell and Taste Center at the National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders (NIDCD). 

Dr. Joseph's educational background encompasses both nursing and the biological sciences. She received an Associate in Applied Science in Nursing at Hostos Community College, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the College of New Rochelle, a Master of Science with a specialty as a Family Nurse Practitioner from Pace University, and an Executive MBA from Quantic School of Business and Technology. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Joseph conducted her Ph.D. work at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, where she focused on sensory biology and genomics. Dr. Joseph first came to NIH in 2012 as a summer intern and then returned to complete a Clinical and Translational Postdoctoral Fellowship at the NINR. During her postdoctoral training, Dr. Joseph co-founded the Genomics and Health Disparities Interest Group at NIH, and she serves as a co-chair. She serves in the UNITE T committee and co-created the UNITE Advocates program. 

She is a recognized nationally and internationally as figure in sensory science research. Her work has been showcased in top-tier academic journals and captured the media's attention, such as TIME, NPR, and the New York Times. She is interested in understanding how chemosensory function and dysfunction influence well-being and health outcomes, especially in populations disproportionately affected by health disparities. Her research explores how taste and smell influence health & well-being, especially in those with chronic illnesses. Specifically, she investigates the neurological mechanisms of chemosensation and its relation to ingestive behaviors, especially in those with obesity and substance use disorders. Notably, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she examined the effects of the virus on taste and smell and co-founded the Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research. 

She leads initiatives devoted to improving healthcare access such as the Amazing Grace Children's Charity in Ghana, where she is the Director of Medical Services. She is the President of the African Research Academy for Women, which focuses on increasing the number of women in STEM in Africa. She is also Vice-President of the Latino Nurses Network. Dr. Joseph has been honored with multiple awards from several global organizations, such as the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame, Friends of the National Institutes of Nursing Research, the National Minority Quality Forum, the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, among others. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, a Fellow of the Transcultural Nursing Society, and a member of the Royal Society of Medicine, United Kingdom. She is also the Inaugural 2022-2024 American Academy of Nursing Fellow at the National Academy of Medicine. She practices clinically as a certified nurse practitioner working at the NIH. 

---

Amy Kelley, M.D., M.S.

Deputy Director 
National Institute on Aging

Dr. Amy Kelley is Deputy Director at the National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institutes of Health. Dr. Kelley works closely with the NIA director, provides strategic leadership, supervises daily operations, and serves as an ambassador and spokesperson for the Institute.  

Dr. Kelley serves in several trans-NIH roles. She is a member of the CARES for Health Scientific Committee, and the Coordinating Committee on Research on Women's Health. She also serves as Chair of the Trans-NIH Palliative Care Workgroup. 
 
Prior to coming to NIH, Dr. Kelley was professor and vice chair for health policy and faculty development, Hermann Merkin Professor in Palliative Care in the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, and senior associate dean for gender equity in research affairs, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. Her research, which bridged geriatrics and palliative medicine by focusing on the needs of seriously ill older adults and their families, was supported by NIA through multiple grants, including a Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award in Aging.  She has been recognized broadly for her exemplary work, including by the American Geriatrics Society with the Thomas and Catherine Yoshikawa Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement in Clinical Investigation and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Excellence in Scientific Research in Palliative Care Award. She is also a two-time Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai “Palliative Care Clinician of the Year” honoree.

Dr. Kelley earned her M.D. from Weill Medical College of Cornell University and a Master of Science in Health Services from the UCLA School of Public Health.

---

Shamay Knox, M.B.A.

Associate Director, Office of Acquisitions
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Shamay Knox is the Associate Director of the Office of Acquisitions (OA) in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), within the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  The NIAID OA plans, solicits, negotiates, awards, and administers a complete range of biomedical and behavioral R&D contracts, contracts in support of R&D, station support contracts, and simplified acquisitions towards the conduct of basic and applied research to better understand, treat, and ultimately prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases.  She has direct oversight of two branches and a team who award more than 40,000 acquisitions per year in a portfolio valued at more than $400 Million annually.   
 
Shamay’s federal career spans more than 26 years and includes a broad array of experience in acquisitions, program and project management, policy analysis, development and compliance, and leadership experience.  At both the Department of the Navy and the National Institutes of Health, her prior experience includes serving as a Contract Specialist, a Procurement Analyst, a Branch Chief, and of course, a Contracting Officer. What she loves most about the field of contracting is that it offers an environment of continuous learning and growth.  The legal, regulatory, political, and operational environment of acquisitions is ever changing, presenting new challenges to navigate and unlimited ways to innovate. 
 
Prior to her acquisition career, Shamay was Cryptologistic Linguist in the U.S. Airforce. Her education includes a Master of Business Administration in Global Management, Cryptology and Linguistics certification, and thousands of continuous learning hours (with so many more to go before retirement).

---

Joshua M. Levy, M.D., M.P.H., M.S., FACS  

Clinical Director 
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

Dr. Joshua M Levy is the Clinical Director at the NIH / National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). He completed his medical and public health training at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA, where he also completed his residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Upon completing residency in 2015, he joined Dr. Tim Smith for fellowship in Rhinology, Sinus and Skull Base Surgery at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, OR. 

Prior to joining the NIDCD he served as Associate Professor and Associate Vice Chair of Research in Emory University’s Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery. He also served as the Clinical Director for the RADx–RAD program at Emory University, which was responsible for clinically validating candidate SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics. Academically, Dr. Levy is interested in the interface of airway inflammation and sense of smell and leads a multi-disciplinary research team devoted to improving outcomes for patients with combined allergy, sinus and airway conditions. Additionally, he Co-Directs the NIH National Smell and Taste Center. Josh lives in the metro DC area with his wife Corinne and daughters Margot and Lola.

---

J'Ingrid Mathis, M.S.

Associate Director for Management/Executive Officer 
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

J’Ingrid Mathis is the Associate Director for Management and Executive Officer (EO) at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). She oversees an annual budget of approximately $1 billion and a workforce of nearly 1,900 scientific, administrative, and infrastructure support personnel. J’Ingrid oversees all operational and administrative management activities at the NIEHS including financial, personnel, and contract management; health and safety; ethics; campus operations and security; supply and property management; and facilities management.  

J’Ingrid joined the NIH community in 2015, initially serving as the Chief of Operations within the NIEHS Division of Intramural Research (DIR). She later became the Principal Administrative Officer for both of the Institute’s intramural research programs—DIR and the Division of Translational Toxicology.

J’Ingrid has over 25 years of experience in administrative management leadership and has previously served in senior management capacities across federal and academic research settings including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received an M.S. in Social Work from Columbia University and a B.A. in Psychology from Yale University.

---

Stephanie J. Murphy, VMD, Ph.D., DACLAM 

Director, Division of Comparative Medicine 
Office of Research Infrastructure Programs 
Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives 
Office of the Director

Dr. Murphy joined the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP) as the Director of the Division of Comparative Medicine (DCM) in June 2014. As the DCM Director in ORIP, Dr. Murphy provides scientific leadership for strengthening and enhancing a critical part of the biomedical research continuum through support for animal models that build the bridge between basic science and human medicine, with discoveries in one species enhancing understanding of another. She is responsible for center and research resource programs such as the National Primate Research Centers, Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Centers, Zebrafish International Research Center, and Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center that support development and access to critical animal models. She also directs resource and research activities to develop, characterize and enhance animal models for human disease and to diagnose, study, and control diseases of laboratory animals.

Dr. Murphy has oversight of funding for training, career development, and loan repayment programs for veterinary scientists who provide unique expertise to translational biomedical research. She establishes collaborations between DCM-supported grantees and grantees funded by NIH Institutes, Centers and Offices, sets scientific priorities through the development of long-term strategic plans and execution of funding decisions, and manages the direction of DCM operations and activities through implementation of NIH policies and resource allocation. Lastly, Dr. Murphy provides leadership in interpreting major policies relating to research programs that utilize mammalian and non-mammalian laboratory animals and serves as liaison with a wide variety of groups, stakeholders, and organizations involving a range of biomedical research interests. 

Dr. Murphy received her VMD and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. She then completed a comparative medicine postdoctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, along with all of the requirements to gain the status of Diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine. After completing her training, Dr. Murphy joined the Department of Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins as an Assistant Professor before being recruited to the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine (APOM) research faculty at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) where she achieved the rank of Professor. She also held joint appointments in Behavioral Neuroscience and Comparative Medicine, directed the APOM Core Animal Laboratories and Training, and served as the Associate Center Director of the Translational Modeling Program for the OHSU Research Center for Gender Based Medicine. Dr. Murphy has published numerous articles, reviews and book chapters related to her research and clinical interests regarding sex differences and the role of sex steroids in stroke as well as development and management of animal models related to stroke and women’s health.  

She enjoys making jewelry, doing jigsaw puzzles, and collecting art glass.

---

Delia Olufokunbi Sam, Ph.D. 

Director, Division of Neuroscience, Development and Aging (DNDA) 
Center for Scientific Review

Dr. Delia Olufokunbi Sam is the Director of the Division of Neuroscience, Development, and Aging at the NIH Center for Scientific Review. In this role, she oversees five review branches encompassing areas of neuroscience from basic to clinical to neurotechnology and administering almost 40 standing study sections and 16 recurring special emphasis panels.

Prior to assuming the position of division director, Dr. Olufokunbi Sam served in multiple leadership positions at CSR, including as the CSR Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute (PCORI) Coordinator, CSR SRO Training Workshop Coordinator, the Chief of the Population Sciences and Epidemiology Integrated Review Group (IRG) and Chief of the Healthcare Delivery and Methodologies IRG.   

Dr. Olufokunbi Sam earned a B.A. in psychology from the University of Connecticut and a Ph.D. in clinical and health psychology from the University of Florida. She received postdoctoral training in mental health services research and policy at the University of South Florida. Before joining CSR, she was the Deputy Director of the Center of Integrated Behavioral Health Policy at the George Washington University, where she managed a diverse portfolio of behavioral health research and policy. Her research has focused on behavioral health policy, substance abuse prevention and treatment, minority health, and child welfare.

---

Charles Rotimi, M.P.H., Ph.D.

Scientific Director, Division of Intramural Research 
National Human Genome Research Institute

Charles Rotimi, a genetic epidemiologist, is an NIH Distinguished investigator and the Scientific Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute Intramural Research Program. He is also the Director of the Trans-NIH Center for Genomics and Global Health. Rotimi earned his bachelor’s in Biochemistry from the University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria. He moved to the USA in 1982 to pursue postgraduate education and earn an MPH and PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama. Rotimi’s lab has made novel discoveries by exploring the increased genetic diversity in African ancestry individuals for disease gene mapping and uncovering complex ways that ancestry can influence genetic findings.

Rotimi is especially proud of his efforts at globalizing genomics. His vision for engaging the U.S. and global communities in genomic science and medicine has had a transformative impact on the democratization and development of genomic medicine. He has facilitated the establishment of state-of-the-art infrastructure and databases that are enabling genomic discoveries with implications for biological mechanisms of diseases and new therapeutic targets. Rotimi was the founding president of the now thriving African Society of Human Genetics, and spearheaded formation of the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) Initiative with over 176 million US dollars funding from NIH and Welcome Trust. For this effort, Rotimi was awarded the 2012 NIH Director’s Global Health Leadership Award, profiled in the Lancet, Nature, Science, and recognized as an “African Innovator” by Quartz Africa.

He is a member of the new leadership team that is developing the next African genomics “moonshot” called Genomic Centers of Excellence (GenCoE) with the goal of raising over 100 million U.S. dollars annually to establish and support 8-10 Centers across Africa. GenCoE will vastly expand the African capacity in genomics technologies with the aim of reducing global health inequities and empowering genomic discovery for drugs and therapeutics. Rotimi has been elected to four global academies – the US National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the African Academy of Sciences and award the New York Academy Medal for Distinguished Contributions in Biomedical Science. He was the 2022 president of the American Society of Human Genetics.

---

Richard H. Scheuermann, Ph.D. 

Scientific Director 
National Library of Medicine

Richard H. Scheuermann is the Scientific Director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) where he leads a team of data scientists engaged in computational health and biomedical informatics research.  His own research interests are focused on the development of computational data mining algorithms and knowledge representation standards, with the goal of scalable translation of research data into computable biomedical knowledge.  In his career, he has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers.  He currently serves as the chair of the NIH Intramural Research Program Artificial Intelligence (AI) Task Force, a member of the NIH Coordinating Committee for Autoimmune Disease Research as part of the Office of Research on Women’s Health, and a member of the AI Task Force: Research & Discovery Working Group for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Before joining NLM in 2023, Dr. Scheuermann was the Director of Informatics and La Jolla Campus Director at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) and served as an Adjunct Professor of Pathology at the University of California, San Diego and an Investigator in the Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology.  Prior positions also include Professor of Pathology and Chief of the Division of Biomedical Informatics in the Department of Clinical Sciences at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and a member of the Swiss Basel Institute for Immunology.  During his career, Dr. Scheuermann has applied his deep knowledge in molecular immunology and infectious disease toward the development of novel computational data mining methods and knowledge representation approaches, and made them available through several public database and analysis resources, including the Influenza Research Database (IRD), the Virus Pathogen Resource (ViPR), the Bacterial and Viral Bioinformatics Resource Center (BV-BRC), and the Immunology Database and Analysis Portal (ImmPort). More recently, Dr. Scheuermann has focused on the development of novel artificial intelligence approaches for interpreting single cell genomics data of the human immune, nervous, respiratory, and visual systems.

Dr. Scheuermann received his Bachelor of Science in Life Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.

---

Martina Schmidt, Ph.D.

Director, Division of Extramural Activities 
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health

Dr. Martina Schmidt is the director of the Division of Extramural Activities (DEA) at the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). She plans, leads, and directs the activities of scientists and technical support personnel within DEA to ensure quality, objectivity, and accountability in the grants and contracts, peer review, and committee management processes. Dr. Schmidt also directs and coordinates activities to evaluate the overall performance of the Center’s grant review processes and allocation of resources. She is the executive secretary of the National Advisory Council for Complementary and Integrative Health, which provides second-level peer review of all grants assigned to NCCIH and provides input and feedback to the Center on all programs, initiatives, and concepts.

Previously, Dr. Schmidt served as director of the NCCIH Office of Scientific Review. Starting in that role in 2016, she directed and coordinated all activities related to the peer review of grant applications for investigator-initiated research, small business, fellowship, and career development training awards, as well as NCCIH-specific funding announcements and center programs. She directly oversaw the review of numerous National Institutes of Health (NIH)-wide initiatives including the NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory and the Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative®. She also served as the referral officer for NCCIH. In that capacity, she assigned applications to NCCIH study sections and interacted with referral officers across NIH, negotiating appropriate funding Institute assignment of submitted applications. Dr. Schmidt has a strong interest in review policy and is part of NIH’s Review Policy Committee. For several years she chaired an NIH-wide committee focused on defining core competencies and key behaviors inherent to the scientific review officer (SRO) position as well as identifying and organizing associated trainings for NIH scientific review staff. She joined NCCIH in 2005 as an SRO. In this capacity, she administered the scientific review of applications submitted to NCCIH in response to its various funding announcements with a primary focus on the review of applications submitted in response to NCCIH’s Center programs and natural products funding initiatives.

Dr. Schmidt received her Ph.D. in microbiology from University of Wuerzburg, Germany, in 1997. She left Germany for a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Linda Wolff at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). During her time at NCI, Dr. Schmidt worked on the proto-oncogene c-Myb and its involvement in myeloid leukemogenesis. In 2004, she joined the Center for Scientific Review (CSR) as an SRO intern in the Oncology Internal Review Group. During her time at CSR, she had the opportunity to familiarize herself with the review of different application mechanisms as well as with the working styles of different study sections.

---

Sunil Vasudevan, M.S., M.E.

Chief Financial Officer 
Clinical Center

Sunil Vasudevan became the Chief Financial Officer for the NIH Clinical Center in June 2023.

Vasudevan is responsible for overseeing all aspects of financial operations, including budgeting, financial planning, forecasting, and clinical informatics and procurement. As a key member of the organization’s senior executive team, Vasudevan serves as principal advisor to the hospital’s leadership in the financial management, planning, formulation, execution, and evaluation of programs, ensuring the hospital’s long-term financial sustainability. Vasudevan feels strongly that customer service, communication and efficient processes are key for a successful organization.

Vasudevan’s ability to build and lead teams and navigate complex matrixed organizations is evidenced through the progressively responsible roles he held prior to joining the NIH Clinical Center.

Most recently, Vasudevan was part of the senior leadership team at Suburban Hospital, Johns Hopkins Medicine, where he led the finance team in development of operating and capital budgets and managing the financial operations of the hospital. His experience also includes serving as Director of Financial Analysis and Decision Support for the National Capital Region for Johns Hopkins Medicine, where he was involved with preparation of analytics for many major strategic initiatives and major capital investments, and as Project Manager with responsibility for business planning for key IT systems, joint ventures and program expansions across the enterprise.

Vasudevan has an MS degree in Healthcare Finance and Management from The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, as well as an ME in Biomedical Engineering from McGill University, Montreal, Canada.