NEW YORK – Eric Green's tenure as director of the National Institutes of Health's National Human Genome Research Institute has ended after 16 years at the helm, GenomeWeb has confirmed.
"The 21st Century Cures Act signed into law in 2016 stipulates that NIH institute directors are appointed by the NIH director for five-year terms," the NIH said in an emailed statement. At the end of a term, the US Department of Health and Human Services secretary, acting through the NIH director, may reappoint an NIH institute director or appoint another individual.
"Dr. Green's tenure ended on March 17, 2025, and his appointment was not renewed," the NIH said, adding that Vence Bonham Jr., the current acting deputy director of NHGRI "will ensure continuity of operations until a new director is appointed."
It was not immediately clear whether Green will serve in a new role at the institute.
Green's departure comes as the Trump administration is making drastic cuts to many US government agencies, including the NIH. It also follows last month's sudden retirement of former NIH Director Francis Collins, who preceded Green as NHGRI director and headed the NIH for 12 years after that.
In an interview with GenomeWeb last month, Green said he had served in government for 31 years, including under Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden. He was looking forward to working with new Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on research projects in new areas such as chronic diseases. "We stand ready to be able to tell our stories of how we believe genomics can make contributions to priorities of the new administration," he said.
Green had been the director of NHGRI since 2009. Before that, he was the institute's scientific director from 2002 until 2009, chief of the NHGRI Genome Technology Branch from 1996 until 2009, and founding director of the NIH Intramural Sequencing Center from 1997 until 2009. He also participated in the Human Genome Project prior to that.
He had also been the co-chair of the program committee for the Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) annual meeting for more than 20 years. He had to miss the meeting this year for the first time due to travel restrictions related to the transition to the new Trump administration.