Dr. Jon Lorsch Named NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research

I’m pleased to announce that Jon R. Lorsch, Ph.D., has been named NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research (DDER). He has served in this role in an acting capacity since April 2025, advancing NIH’s efforts to support gold standard science. As DDER, Dr. Lorsch serves as the principal scientific leader and advisor to the NIH Director on all matters relating to the substance, quality, and effectiveness of the NIH extramural research program and administration. He is stepping down as Director of NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), a position he has held since August 2013.

At NIGMS, Dr. Lorsch oversaw the Institute's mission-related activities, supporting basic research that increases understanding of biological processes and lays the foundation for advances in disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. He led the development and expansion of the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Awards (MIRA) program, a new paradigm for efficiently supporting agile and innovative biomedical research. He also championed the Institute’s research capacity building efforts, including the Institutional Development Awards (IDeA) program, which develops biomedical research in states that have historically received low levels of NIH funding. Dr. Lorsch has taken on many other leadership roles at NIH, including co-chair of the NIH Scientific Data Council and the Extramural Activities Working Group and member of the Administrative Data Council and the Scientific Management Review Board.

Dr. Lorsch came to NIGMS from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he was a professor of biophysics and biophysical chemistry. A leader in RNA biology, Dr. Lorsch studies the initiation of translation, a major step in controlling how genes are expressed. He has led a lab conducting this research with NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development since 2013.

Dr. Erica Brown, acting NIGMS deputy director, will serve as acting NIGMS director. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Lorsch on his new role.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya
NIH Director