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Elias Zerhouni

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Elias Zerhouni
Elias Zerhouni
15th Director of the National Institutes of Health
In office
May 2, 2002 – October 31, 2008
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byHarold Varmus
Succeeded byFrancis Collins
Personal details
Born (1951-04-12) April 12, 1951 (age 74)
Nedroma, Algeria,
CitizenshipUnited States of America
NationalityAlgerian American
Alma materUniversity of Algiers
Known for
Awardssee "Awards and International Recognition" below
Scientific career
FieldsMedical imaging
Institutions

Elias Zerhouni (in Arabic: إلياس زرهوني; born April 12, 1951) is an Algerian-American scientist specializing in biomedical engineer. He served as the 15th Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from May 2, 2002, to October 31, 2008, under President George W. Bush.[1] Academic and professional career

Zerhouni held faculty positions at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine from 1979 to 2002, including executive vice dean (1996–2002).[1] After his tenure at the NIH, he was a senior fellow at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (2009–2010).[2]

From 2011 to 2018, he led global research and development at Sanofi, a pharmaceutical company.[3] Later ventures

In 2020, Zerhouni co-founded ModeX Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on immune therapies for cancer and infectious diseases, according to corporate filings.[4] This company was acquired by OPKO Health in 2022, after which Zerhouni became president and vice chairman of OPKO.[5] Government roles

Under President President Barack Obama’s administration, Zerhouni was appointed a U.S. science envoy in 2009 to promote international scientific collaboration.[2]

Education and career

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Zerhouni was born on April 12, 1951, in Nedroma, Algeria, and is a resident of Florida. He grew up during the Algerian War of Independence. After earning his M.D. from the University of Algiers School of Medicine in 1975, Zerhouni emigrated to the United States to study radiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.[6] His initial, informal residency (sponsored by the Algerian government) evolved into a formal residency. He then held positions of increasing responsibility in the radiology department, including chief resident and assistant professor.

From 1981 to 1985, he was vice chair of the Department of Radiology at Eastern Virginia Medical School and its affiliated DePaul Hospital. In 1985, Zerhouni returned to Johns Hopkins as co-director of body CT and MRI and was promoted to associate professor.[7] He was appointed sole director of the MRI division in 1988 and promoted to full professor in 1992.[7] In 1995, he also became a professor of biomedical engineering at Hopkins. In 1996, Zerhouni was named chair of the radiology department at Johns Hopkins.[7] Zerhouni was appointed executive vice dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1996,[8] serving as vice dean for Clinical Affairs and president of the Clinical Practice Association (1996-1999) and vice dean for Research (1999–2002).

In the early 1980s, Zerhouni established Computerized Imaging Reference Systems (now part of Mirion Technologies), which manufactures tissue-equivalent phantoms for densitometry, calibration, quality control, research, and training in medical imaging and radiation therapy. He also established the Advanced Medical Imaging Institute, an integrated outpatient medical imaging center. Zerhouni co-invented an image-guided, less-invasive breast biopsy method to diagnose breast cancer, which led to the creation of Biopsys Medical (acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 1997).[9] He also established American Radiology Services, an expansion of Johns Hopkins outpatient radiology.

Zerhouni served on the National Cancer Institute's Board of Scientific Advisors (1998-2002), was a consultant to the White House under President Ronald Reagan (1985), and was a consultant to the World Health Organization (1988).

National Institutes of Health (2002–2008)

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Zerhouni was appointed Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by President George W. Bush.[10] After being confirmed by the Senate in April 2002, he remained in the position until October 2008.[11] He was the first immigrant to serve as NIH Director.[citation needed] During his tenure, the agency's work included:

  1. Establishing the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research to accelerate medical discovery, focusing on efforts that individual institutes or centers at NIH could not easily conduct independently.[12]
  2. Passage of the NIH Reform Act of 2006 (with bipartisan support), signed into law by President Bush, which reauthorized the agency for the third time in its history.
  3. Supporting the NIH Neuroscience Blueprint.
  4. Establishing an NIH-wide research initiative to address the obesity epidemic.
  5. Prioritizing research into health disparities, defined as preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or in opportunities to achieve optimal health experienced by socially disadvantaged racial, ethnic, and other population groups.
  6. Helping create the Working Group on Women in Biomedical Careers to address barriers affecting the advancement and retention of women in the biomedical workforce.
  7. Supporting research related to women's health and completing a vaccine to help protect against human papillomavirus (HPV).
  8. Ensuring public access to NIH-funded research results.
  9. Creating the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award Program for high-risk, high-reward, breakthrough science, and the NIH Director's New Innovator Award in 2007.
  10. Reforming peer review to increase support for younger, early-stage investigators.

Zerhouni is on the board of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health.[13]

Legion of Honour, Presidential Envoy, Senior Fellow

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In 2008, at the Élysée Palace, French President Nicolas Sarkozy awarded Zerhouni the Legion of Honour, France’s highest order of merit, for his role in helping to mend the relationship between the National Institutes of Health and the Pasteur Institute in France.

In 2009, under the Obama administration, he served as one of the country's first presidential science and technology envoys to foster scientific and technological collaboration with other nations.[5] He also served as a Senior Fellow for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation from 2009 through 2010.[2]

During this period, the the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Science magazine launched Science Translational Medicine, of which Zerhouni was a founding editor. He also served on the board of Actelion Pharmaceuticals, a Swiss biotechnology company.

President, Global R&D of Sanofi

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Sanofi, a global pharmaceutical company, appointed Zerhouni as the head of Research and Development in 2011.[14] He retired from Sanofi in June 2018.[15]

Board memberships and advisory roles

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After retiring from Sanofi in 2018, Zerhouni joined the boards of several organizations, including:

- Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH). - Research!America, a nonprofit advocating for health research funding. - Lasker Foundation, which recognizes biomedical research achievements. - Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC), a global initiative focused on accelerating Alzheimer’s disease research, where he served as a founding board member.[6]

He also joined the management board of Waypoint Capital (later renamed B-FLEXION) and remained a board member of Danaher Corporation, an industrial conglomerate with subsidiaries in life sciences and diagnostics.

ModeX and OPKO Health

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In 2020, Zerhouni co-founded ModeX Therapeutics with R&D leaders Gary Nabel, Zhi-yong Yang, Ronnie Wei, Chih-Jen Wei, and Elizabeth Nabel.[16] ModeX is a biotechnology company focused on multi-specific biologic drugs for cancer and infectious diseases.[4] The ModeX product portfolio includes cancer immunotherapies that combine four specificities into one protein to improve targeting and immune killing, as well as masking or “stealth” technology to improve tumor-specific killing and reduce side effects.[4] For viral diseases, the lead targets of a broad multi-specific antibody portfolio include HIV and SARS-CoV-2, and a vaccine for Epstein-Barr virus is also in development.[4]

In 2022, ModeX was acquired by OPKO Health, and Zerhouni was appointed President and Vice Chairman of the latter.[4] In 2023, ModeX signed a deal with Merck & Co to develop an EBV (EBV) vaccine.[17] That same year, ModeX was also awarded a contract from the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to advance a platform and specific candidates designed to address public health threats from viral infectious diseases. In 2025, ModeX announced the dosing of the first participant in the Phase I study of an EBV vaccine candidate being developed in collaboration with Merck & Co.

Memberships

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Zerhouni served on the board of trustees of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia.

Zerhouni is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine and U.S. National Academy of Engineering, an emeritus public trustee on the board of trustees of the Mayo Clinic, a member emeritus of the Radiological Society of North America, professor emeritus of radiology and biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University, a member of the board of fellows of Stanford Medicine, a member of the board of directors of Research!America, a member of the board of directors of the Foundation for the NIH, a member of the board of directors of the Lasker Foundation, a founding board member of the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative, and a member of the French Academy of Medicine.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D." National Institutes of Health (NIH). 2015-08-06. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
  2. ^ a b c "Elias Zerhouni, M.D., Joins Foundation - Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation". gatesfoundation.org. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Sanofi Head of Global R&D Elias Zerhouni to retire; Company names John Reed to take over on July 1". www.sanofi.com. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
  4. ^ a b c d e "OPKO Health Acquires ModeX Therapeutics, Gains Proprietary Immunotherapy Technology with a Focus on Oncology and Infectious Diseases". OPKO Health, Inc. 2022-05-09. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
  5. ^ a b "Bruce Alberts, Elias Zerhouni and Ahmed Zewail Named First U.S. Science Envoys". aaas.org. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Immigrant of the Day: ELIAS ZERHOUNI (Algeria)". The Law Professor Blogs Network. 2008-04-24. Retrieved 2025-04-14.
  7. ^ a b c "Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. Professorship - Named Deanships, Directorships, and Professorships". Johns Hopkins University. 2020-08-14. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
  8. ^ Stephenson, Gary (April 20, 2009). "Zerhouni Rejoins Johns Hopkins Medicine as Senior Adviser". Johns Hopkins Gazette. Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  9. ^ Newswires, Dow Jones (1997-05-22). "Johnson & Johnson to Acquire Biopsys Medical in Stock Swap". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
  10. ^ "Man in the News; From Algeria to a Dream -- Elias Adam Zerhouni". The New York Times. 27 March 2002. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  11. ^ "Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D." nih.gov. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  12. ^ Zerhouni, Elias (2003-10-03). "The NIH Roadmap". Science. 302 (5642): 63–72. doi:10.1126/science.1091867. PMID 14526066.
  13. ^ "FNIH Board". fnih.org. 8 May 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  14. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-01-19. Retrieved 2016-11-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. ^ "Sanofi Head of Global R&D Elias Zerhouni to retire; Company names John Reed to take over on July 1". www.sanofi.com (Press release). Sanofi. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  16. ^ "About Us » ModeX Therapeutics". ModeX Therapeutics. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
  17. ^ vasundhara (2023-03-09). "ModeX and Merck sign deal to develop Epstein-Barr Virus vaccine". Pharmaceutical Technology. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
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Government offices
Preceded by 15th Director of National Institutes of Health
2002 – 2008 		Succeeded by
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