Dr. Adele Merritt named NIH Chief Information Officer

Adele Merritt, Ph.D., NIH Chief Information Officer

I am pleased to announce the selection of Adele Merritt, Ph.D., as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Director of the NIH Office of the Chief Information Office (OCIO). In this role, Dr. Merritt is responsible for leading the agency’s IT strategy, policy, governance, security and oversight. With more than 20 years of experience in cyber and national security operations, Dr. Merritt is well positioned to drive the strategic direction of NIH IT resources and infrastructure. Dr. Merritt begins her new role at NIH today. I also want to extend my gratitude to Dennis Papula who has served as the acting CIO and acting director for OCIO since January 2023, and congratulate him on his new position as the CIO of the HHS Administration for Strategic Preparedness & Response effective Dec. 15, 2024.

As CIO, Dr. Merritt reports to the NIH Associate Director for Information Technology, Cyberinfrastructure and Cybersecurity Sean Mooney, Ph.D., who also serves as the director of NIH’s Center for Information Technology. Dr. Merritt will work closely with Dr. Mooney to advise agency leadership on all IT matters, including compliance with federal legal and regulatory requirements.

Dr. Merritt has held critical roles across the federal government’s intelligence community. She most recently served as the Intelligence Community CIO in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. There, she spearheaded modernization efforts to transform enterprise IT, enhance security and foster collaboration across the 18 agencies of the federal intelligence community. Her leadership has also been instrumental in advancing cybersecurity innovation and partnerships through her work with the Technology Advancement Center, formerly known as MISI, a non-profit organization that collaborates with industry, academia and government.

A mathematician by training, Dr. Merritt’s diverse career path includes serving as principal deputy CIO for cyber at the Department of Energy, holding senior positions on the National Security Council Staff at the White House and leading initiatives to address cyber threats to U.S. national security systems and critical infrastructure. She has dedicated significant efforts to fostering and supporting the next generation of federal cyber security professionals through specially designed internship programs, leadership skills training and professional development coaching.

Dr. Merritt was a National Security Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. She earned a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from Pace University, Pleasantville, New York, and a Ph.D. and Master of Science in mathematics from the University of Rhode Island, Kingston. 

Her breadth of experience and passion for harnessing technology to drive mission outcomes will be invaluable to NIH in advancing cutting-edge IT solutions in support of biomedical research and public health. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Merritt to the NIH leadership team and congratulating Mr. Papula on his new role at HHS.

Monica M. Bertagnolli, M.D.
Director, NIH