Statement on the Retirement of Dr. John Gallin

With gratitude for his leadership and dedication to NIH, I announce that John I. Gallin, M.D., will retire from federal service on March 25, 2023. While he currently serves as the NIH Associate Director for Clinical Research and Chief Scientific Officer of the NIH Clinical Center, John’s career at NIH spans more than 50 years where he has played an instrumental role in developing the research portfolio for the NIH Clinical Center, the nation’s largest hospital devoted to clinical research, and training the next generation of clinical researchers. NIH is in the process of considering the transition of John’s responsibilities within the Office of Intramural Research and the NIH Clinical Center.

Among John’s many contributions to NIH, his most significant was serving as the 10^th director of the NIH Clinical Center, a position he held from 1994-2017 making him the longest-serving director. During his tenure, he led efforts that resulted in the newest addition to the hospital, the Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center, which opened to patients in 2005. He also oversaw the establishment of a new Department of Bioethics, as well as a new curriculum for clinical research training, now offered globally reaching over 25,000 students annually in 168 countries.  He also started the Bench to Bedside Awards to integrate the work of basic and clinical investigators. Under John's leadership, the NIH Clinical Center received the Lasker-Bloomberg Public Service Award in 2011 for serving as a model institution that has transformed scientific advances into innovative therapies.

After earning his M.D. from Weill Medical College of Cornell University and completing his residency at New York University’s Bellevue Hospital, John joined NIH in 1971 for postdoctoral training in basic and clinical research in infectious diseases in NIAID’s Laboratory of Clinical Investigation. In 1976, he became a senior investigator and went on to serve as NIAID’s scientific director for intramural research activities and the founding chief of NIAID's Laboratory of Host Defenses. In John’s current role as NIH Associate Director for Clinical Research, he oversees research programs of Clinical Center independent investigators, clinical research training and the scientific review process for all clinical protocols conducted at the NIH. As Chief Scientific Officer of the NIH Clinical Center, John provides leadership for ongoing research, oversees the research budget process and develops policies and procedures for the scientific review of all intramural clinical protocols, research funding opportunities and the Clinical Center Board of Scientific Counselors.

Throughout his career, John has remained committed to his own research of rare immune disorders of phagocytes, with a focus on chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). His laboratory described the genetic basis for several forms of CGD and other disorders of phagocytes and has done pioneering research that has reduced life-threatening bacterial and fungal infections in patients with these disorders. John is as a member of the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the Association of American Physicians, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American College of Physicians (Master) and the Royal College of Physicians-London.

Please join me in congratulating John on concluding his tenure as the Associate Director for Clinical Research and CSO of the NIH Clinical Center and thanking him for his dedicated service to NIH and countless contributions to improving public health.

Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D.
Performing the Duties of the NIH Director