NIGMS Restarts Search For New Director

NIH has reopened the search for a new director of its National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Chris A. Kaiser, a cell biologist and head of the biology department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has decided not to take the position, citing personal reasons. Kaiser was slated to start as director on April 23. Judith H. Greenberg has been leading NIGMS since former director Jeremy M. Berg left for a position at the University of Pittsburgh last summer (C&EN, June 20, 2011, page 28). She will continue to serve as acting director until a permanent director is found. The NIGMS director oversees a budget of about $2 billion. The institute supports about 4,500 biomedical research grants each year and funds more chemistry-related research than any of the other 27 NIH institutes or centers.