This week, NIH Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD, announced his appointment of Richard (Rick) P. Woychik, PhD, as director of the NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Dr. Woychik served as acting director of the NIEHS since the retirement of former NIEHS Director Linda Birnbaum, PhD, in October 2019.

Dr. Woychik joined NIEHS in 2010 as deputy director and led the institute’s strategic planning development and implementation. A renowned scientist in genetics, his laboratory was the first to identify a gene associated with polycystic kidney disease, the first to connect a gene linked to hearing loss in Cushing’s disease, and the first to clone an obesity-related gene.

Before joining NIEHS, Dr. Woychik was President and CEO of The Jackson Laboratory, in Maine, for nearly a decade, where he established the Genetics Resource Science division and advanced the company’s work on basic mechanistic research in model organisms with an emphasis on translation to human health and disease. Dr. Woychik earned his PhD in molecular biology in 1984 from Case Western Reserve University and completed his postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School.   

“Innovation has been a hallmark of Rick’s scientific career and it’s at the center of his vision for leading NIEHS,” said Dr. Collins. “He will be working to support new technologies and scientific approaches throughout the field of environmental health sciences – applying his proven skills in scientific excellence, creativity, and rigor to improving public health.