Diabetes Dateline
Spring/Summer 2007

NIDDK News

Rodgers Named NIDDK Director

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., 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.

Rodgers, who was appointed deputy director of the NIDDK in January 2001, has been the Institute’s acting director. Rodgers also has served as chief of the NIDDK’s Clinical and Molecular Hematology Branch since 1998.

As NIDDK director, Rodgers oversees 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 health issues affecting the public, including diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases and nutrition, including obesity; and kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases.

“Griff Rodgers is an outstanding physician-scientist and molecular hematologist,” said Zerhouni. “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 disease 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 seek in an Institute director.”

Rodgers received his undergraduate, graduate, and medical degrees from Brown University. He completed his residency and chief residency in internal medicine at Barnes Hospital and the Washington University School of Medicine. His fellowship training in hematology/oncology was in a joint NIH program with George Washington University and the Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

In addition to his medical and research training, Rodgers earned a master’s degree in business administration, with a focus on the business of medicine, from the Johns Hopkins University in 2005.

As a research investigator, Rodgers is widely recognized for his contributions to the development of the first effective—and now U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved—therapy for sickle cell disease. He was a principal investigator in clinical trials to develop therapy for patients with sickle cell disease and also performed basic research that focused on understanding the molecular basis of how certain drugs induce gamma-globin gene expression. He was honored for his research with numerous awards, including the 1998 Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award, the 2000 Arthur S. Fleming Award, the Legacy of Leadership Award in 2002, and a Mastership from the American College of Physicians in 2005.

“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’s,” said Rodgers. “While the 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.”

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NIH Publication No. 07–4562
May 2007