page_title: Bernadine Healy
section_title: National Institutes of Health
hierarchical_section_title: Bernadine Healy / Government service / National Institutes of Health
caption_attribution_description: English: Dr. Healy served from 1991 until June 30, 1993. Healy was the first woman director at NIH.
context_page_description: Bernadine Patricia Healy was an American cardiologist and the first female director of the National Institutes of Health.
  During her career, Healy held leadership positions at the Johns Hopkins University, the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio State University, and Harvard University. She was also president of both the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association. She was health editor and columnist for U.S. News & World Report and a well-known commentator in the news media on health issues.
context_section_description: Healy was director of the Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation when President George H. W. Bush tapped her in 1991 to become director of the NIH, its first woman head. She took on many initiatives during her two years at the helm, including the development of a major intramural laboratory for human genomics; recruited a world-renowned team to head the Human Genome Project, including current NIH director Dr. Francis Collins; elevated nursing research to an independent NIH institute; and established a policy whereby the NIH would fund only those clinical trials that included both men and women when the condition being studied affects both sexes.
  According to Francis Collins, Healy was responsible for pressuring James Watson to retire as director of the Human Genome Project due to Watson's publicized belief that identified DNA gene sequences should be openly available for use to prevent disease instead of allowing DNA sequences to be patented, an idea which Watson characterized as crazy and insane, and an idea which Healy preferred.
caption: Healy served at NIH from 1991 to 1993.
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