Monica Bertagnolli Confirmed as NIH Director by Senate

The Senate has confirmed Dr. Monica M. Bertagnolli, a cancer surgeon and current leader of the National Cancer Institute, as the next director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), despite opposition from Senator Bernie Sanders. Dr. Bertagnolli will become only the second woman to lead the NIH on a permanent basis. She takes over an agency that has faced political attacks and accusations of downplaying the possibility of a lab leak as the origin of Covid-19. Dr. Bertagnolli has promised to make any data on the subject available to the public.