STAT+: Second top NIH official, who oversaw awarding of research grants, departs abruptly

Michael Lauer, deputy director of the National Institutes of Health’s extramural research, will leave the agency at the end of the week. 

News of Lauer’s departure comes one day after Lawrence Tabak, the agency’s longtime second-in-command, retired, a move several agency sources described as “sudden” and “abrupt.” 

The NIH is led by one agency director and five deputies. With Lauer’s departure, two of those deputies have left in as many days, and the agency is currently being led by an acting director, Matthew Memoli. 

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