NIH Advisory Council Meets Amid Membership Shortage
The NIH Council of Councils gathered for its fall meeting on September 10-11, receiving updates on agency programs and an AI strategy. Director Jay Bhattacharya outlined a three-step selection process for filling leadership vacancies and discussed new performance metrics. The council currently has only nine of its 27 charter members, with plans to add nine more by January.
The Council of Councils, established in 2006 to advise on the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, is operating at one-third of its charter capacity. With only nine of 27 external seats filled, the agency plans to onboard nine members before January and the remaining nine by May, restoring full membership after more than a year of attrition.
Bhattacharya's leadership selection process involves institute directors recommending applicants, career scientists in the Office of the Director interviewing and proposing three finalists, and the director forwarding a pick to HHS Secretary Kennedy for approval. He also confirmed NIAID's biodefense portfolio will transfer to the Department of Defense, while the agency funds over 1,200 new R01 grants for early-stage investigators in FY26, the highest count since 2009.
The council's membership shortage and prolonged leadership vacancies could slow NIH's ability to set research priorities and respond to stakeholder input. With only a third of seats filled, decisions on program coordination may lack the breadth of expertise the charter intended. New performance metrics emphasizing health outcomes may reshape how research is evaluated and funded, potentially affecting researchers and patients who depend on NIH-supported science. The biodefense transfer to DOD could also shift how infectious disease research is prioritized, with implications for public health preparedness.