US NIH names John Powers III as acting director of infectious disease institute

The National Institutes of Health appointed Dr. John Powers III as acting director of its infectious disease institute, the agency's website showed on Tuesday.

• Powers is the deputy director of the National Institute Of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

• The appointment comes amid recent outbreaks of diseases such as Hantavirus and Ebola.

• NIAID is the agency's second-largest institute, with a budget of over $6.5 billion, and has been critical to the research and development of treatments and prevention measures for infectious diseases including Ebola.

• The agency has been without a permanent leader since Jeanne Marrazzo was fired last year.

• Last month, former acting director Jeffery Taubenberger, who was appointed in April 2025, stepped down from the role.

• Powers has previously been the principal senior advisor to the Director of NIAID and director of collaborative research with Leidos Biomedical Research.

• In this role, he advised senior leadership on strategic initiatives in infectious diseases research, clinical trials, antimicrobial resistance and the development and evaluation of medical interventions to improve health outcomes.

(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 11:06 AM.