In recent weeks, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced it will modernize its web presence by consolidating several individual sites – including for all 27 institutes and centers (ICs), cross-cutting offices, and NIH-wide initiatives – into one. Additionally, NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya selected Courtney Aklin, PhD, as the permanent Director of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR).
Web Modernization
On July 15, NIH publicized that a new NIH.gov is on the way. According to an FAQ, the new website experience will “make it easier to find health information, research, funding opportunities, and other resources.” The change likely builds on last year’s decision to centralize agency communications. Previously, ICs and other offices had their own communications staff – which were decimated by DOGE cuts – and maintained their own websites.
NIH has not revealed much information about the changes ahead. The new website will be organized into nine “thematic hubs” intended to reflect public needs rather than the agency’s internal organizational structure. These hubs will include: NIH.gov; health; research; data; clinical; rare; tech; cancer.gov; and grants (see the FAQ for additional details). Questions remain about how useful these categories will be, especially since the agency encourages users to rely on the search function to find the information they are looking for.
During the transition, the agency’s current websites are expected to remain available, with notices alerting users to the new website.
NINR Director Selected
At the end of July, the NIH Director announced that Courtney Aklin, PhD, will serve as the permanent Director of NINR moving forward. Of interest for FABBS members, Dr. Aklin is a licensed clinical psychologist, having earned her doctorate at the University of Maryland. She has expertise in behavioral, translational, and implementation science. During her time at NIH, she has led programs to expand and strengthen the biomedical workforce and managed the fear and anxiety research portfolio at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
Dr. Aklin had been serving as the institute’s Acting Director since April 2025, when then-Director Shannon Zenk, PhD, was placed on administrative leave (Dr. Zenk was officially fired in October 2025). Dr. Aklin has more than two decades of experience at NIH and began her career in 2004 as an American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellow. In addition to her time at NINR and NIMH, Dr. Aklin has worked at the National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), and the NIH Office of the Director (OD).
Even with this selection, there are still 12 ICs that still do not have permanent directors in place.
