LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, director of the National Institutes of Health, visited the University of Kentucky on Monday.
She spent time checking out NIH-funded research projects and meeting with healthcare leaders involved in community-based, health-focused research across Kentucky.
Bertagnolli is the 17th director of the National Institutes of Health. She took office in November 2023.
She has an impressive history in health care. Prior to her NIH role, she served as the director of the National Cancer Institute, worked in surgical oncology at Harvard Medical School, and was a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Now, she oversees the work of the largest funder of biomedical and behavioral research in the world.
Bertagnolli says so much of her passion lies in research.
She had the opportunity to attend a poster session at the university and talk with various postdoctoral scholars whose research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
She also gave a presentation geared toward improving health through biomedical research. She shared that the NIH is launching a new primary care research network because it wants to put the research into the hands of trusted people.
“Pew Trust did a study recently that was very interesting. It asked people who they trusted for their health information. The very highest trust was with their primary care providers. We want everybody to have an opportunity to live a long and healthy life and to use the things we know work,” said Bertagnolli.
Dr. Bertagnolli also shared that in fiscal year 2023, the NIH funded more than $47 billion in research.
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