Bethesda, Maryland - Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has announced the appointment of Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D., as director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), effective April 1, 2007.

"Griff Rodgers is an outstanding physician- scientist and molecular hematologist. He has made singular contributions to the study of globin disorders and is internationally recognized for his contributions to the development of effective therapy for sickle cell anemia and other genetic diseases of hemoglobin. In addition to his research experience, Dr. Rodgers is a dedicated and knowledgeable clinician and a first rate research administrator. He has all the qualities we search for in an Institute Director," said Zerhouni.

Dr. Rodgers, who was appointed Deputy Director of NIDDK in January 2001, is currently Acting Director of NIDDK and also serves as chief of NIDDK's Clinical and Molecular Hematology Branch, which he has headed since 1998.
As the new Director of the NIDDK, Dr. Rodgers will oversee an annual budget of $1.8 billion and a staff of 650 scientists, physician-scientists, and administrators. The Institute conducts and supports research on many of the most serious diseases affecting public health including diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases and nutrition, including obesity; and kidney, urologic and hematologic diseases. NIDDK conducts and supports much of the clinical research on the diseases of internal medicine and related subspecialty fields as well as many basic science disciplines at its research facilities in Bethesda, Md. and Phoenix, Ariz. and at research institutions and medical centers throughout the United States. In addition, NIDDK also supports education programs to translate the results of research to health professionals, patients and the public.

"It is truly an honor to be given the opportunity to lead an organization with a mission as far-reaching and varied as the NIDDK," said Dr. Rodgers. "While NIDDK has a long and distinguished history of accomplishment as an Institute, we must look to the future to capitalize on the opportunities for disease prevention that new technologies and discoveries are giving us. The health problems we face as a Nation are real and the results of research offer substantive promise for solving the difficult questions faced by millions of Americans every day and the health professionals who treat them," he said.

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