David Lipman, the director of the US National Center for Biotechnology Information, is stepping down, according to the agency.
Lipman, it notes, has led NCBI since it was formed about 30 years ago. The center has created and maintains a number of key databases for biomedical and biotechnological research, including PubMed and GenBank. NCBI says that more than 3 million users access NCBI databases and download more than 50 terabytes of data every day.
"It's hard to think of anyone at NIH who has had a greater impact on the way research is conducted around the world than David Lipman," says National Library of Medicine Director Patricia Flatley Brennan in a statement. "Under his visionary leadership, NCBI has greatly improved access to biomedical information and genomic data for scientists, health professionals, and the public worldwide —something we now practically take for granted."
NCBI adds that Lipman also studied influenza evolution and developed, along with colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, and the Department of Agriculture, a system to use genome sequencing to catch foodborne illness.
Lipman will be joining Patrick Brown's Impossible Foods as its chief science officer. Impossible Foods makes meat and dairy products from plants. Lipman will oversee research and development and information technology there, according to the company.