Business & Education News - November 10, 2004

Schwartz to lead NIEHS

David A. Schwartz was appointed director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program in late October. He is currently director of the Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Division and vice chair of research in the Department of Medicine at Duke University, where he was instrumental in developing three interdisciplinary centers that investigate environmental health, genomics, and asthma. His research focuses on genetic and biological determinants of environmental lung disease and host defense. Schwartz replaces longtime director Kenneth Olden, who stepped down last year but agreed to remain in the position until the National Institutes of Health found a successor. Schwartz officially joins NIEHS on April 4, 2005. NIEHS has a $711 million budget and is headquartered in Research Triangle Park, N.C.