Re: Josephine Briggs, M.D., Named Director Of NIH's National Center For Complementary And Alternative Medicine

Excerpt From:
Josephine Briggs, M.D., Named Director of NIH's National Center for
Complementary and Alternative Medicine

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director, Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.,
has named Josephine P. Briggs, M.D., to be the director of the
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). An
accomplished researcher and physician, Dr. Briggs brings a focus on
translational research to the study of complementary and alternative
medicine (CAM) to help build a fuller understanding of the usefulness
and safety of CAM practices that nearly two-thirds of the American
public uses.

"We are pleased to have Dr. Briggs return to NIH to lead NCCAM," said
Dr. Zerhouni. "She has been a leader in trans-NIH activities and her
in-depth understanding of NIH and translational research will bring
new opportunities to the study of CAM."

"I am honored to be selected to lead NCCAM and welcome the opportunity
to develop further the NIH investment in this exciting field of
biomedical investigation," Dr. Briggs said. "Alternative approaches to
health and wellness are of enormous public interest, and we need a
strong portfolio of science in this area. The NIH has already taken
significant steps to build research programs to explore the potential
of CAM. I look forward to working with scientists and the CAM
community as well as my colleagues across the NIH to strengthen our
understanding of the potential of CAM and to examine the opportunities
for integration of proven CAM approaches into our Nation's health care
delivery."

NCCAM has an annual budget of $121 million and supports CAM research
at more than 260 institutions throughout the country, funds research
training and career development, and provides science-based
information to the public and health professionals.

Dr. Briggs received her A.B. cum laude in biology from Harvard-
Radcliffe College and her M.D. from Harvard Medical School. She
completed her residency training in internal medicine and nephrology
at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, followed by a research
fellowship in physiology at Yale School of Medicine. She was a
professor of internal medicine and physiology at the University of
Michigan from 1993 to 1997. From 1997 to 2006 she was director of the
Division of Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Diseases in the National
Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. For the last
year and a half she has been senior scientific officer at the Howard
Hughes Medical Institute.

Dr. Briggs has published more than 125 research articles and is on the
editorial boards of numerous journals. She is an elected member of the
American Association of Physicians and a fellow of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science. She is also a recipient of
the Volhard Prize of the German Nephrological Society. Her research
interests include the renin-angiotensin system, diabetic nephropathy
and the effect of antioxidants in kidney disease.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine's
mission is to explore complementary and alternative medical practices
in the context of rigorous science, train CAM researchers, and
disseminate authoritative information to the public and professionals.
For additional information, call NCCAM's Clearinghouse toll free at
1-888-644-6226, or visit the NCCAM Web site at:
www.nccam.nih.gov

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- The Nation's Medical
Research Agency -- includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a
component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is
the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic,
clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the
causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For
more information about NIH and its programs, visit:
www.nih.gov
.

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