WASHINGTON, D.C. — National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya is expected to testify Thursday before the Senate Appropriations Committee about an accelerated process to hire permanent leaders for institutes within the agency. Fifteen of the 27 NIH institutes are currently led by acting directors.

Institute directors at NIH oversee research in a specific topic area and are appointed to five-year terms. At the end of those terms, their contracts are reviewed based on feedback from the external community. Before the second Trump administration, no institute director had failed to have their contract renewed. The second Trump administration used the contract review process to remove several institute directors.

The job postings for the institute directorships were open for only several weeks, and typical search committees made up of external scientists and NIH officials were not convened. Many of the current acting directors are former deputy directors of those institutes.

"I have put in place a process to, as rapidly as possible, while still having scientists lead the way in identifying the next directors, a process to hire in each of those slots. You're going to start seeing people being hired, starting actually this month, and moving forward," Bhattacharya said at a congressional hearing in March. In February, he told a Senate committee that he had recommended two candidates for institute director positions, and only one appointment had been made since then.

In a document released alongside the agency's 2026 budget, the Senate Appropriations Committee called for including external scientists on search committees and providing quarterly briefings on the status of hiring institute directors. The committee's document did not specify a timeline for implementing those requirements.

Jeremy Berg, former director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, questioned whether deputies and extramural staff elevated through the process were suited to the role. "Being an institute director is a different job than being a deputy, and a different job than being head of extramural activities. There's much more policy stuff and interactions with Congress, and managing lots of staff. I think that they may be perfectly well qualified for those jobs, but they weren't jobs that they ever necessarily aspired to," Berg said.

Erika Sward, executive director of United for Cures, said permanent leadership was needed at the agency. "Strong, permanent leadership across NIH is essential to keeping lifesaving medical research moving forward. Institute directors ensure taxpayer dollars are going to the most important science and the most promising research for American families. Having experienced directors in these roles provides the stability needed to ensure progress and avoid delays in developing new treatments and cures that millions of patients and families are counting on," she said.