NIH Head Says Agency Moving to Fill Open Director Positions

Sixteen NIH institutes currently have acting directors.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, speaks to a congressional committee in Washington on March 17, 2026. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will soon start filling positions at its highest levels, NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said on March 17.

“You’re going to start to see people appointed this month,” Bhattacharya told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies during a hearing in Washington.