Arab-American Doctor Named to Senior Medical Post in Bush Administration

Algerian-born Elias Zerhouni to lead National Institutes of Health

By Laura J. Brown
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington — Dr. Elias Zerhouni, President Bush's nominee to head the National Institutes of Health, is both a medical expert known for his innovations in radiology and a skillful administrator at one of America's best medical schools. If the Senate confirms his nomination, he will also be one of several Arab-Americans and Muslim Americans to fill a top administration job in the U.S. government.

A native of Algeria, Zerhouni came to the United States 27 years ago as a resident doctor at Johns Hopkins University. He worked his way up as an instructor and assistant professor, then as a director of some of the school's radiology divisions. Presently, Zerhouni, 50, is a professor of radiology and biomedical engineering and serves as the executive vice dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Zerhouni became a naturalized American citizen in 1990. For him, the nomination is a privilege he "would not have dreamed of," he said. At a White House ceremony March 26 in which President Bush made public his choice for head of the NIH, Zerhouni told the president, "My family and I are touched by your nomination because it says about our great country what no other country can say about itself."

President Bush spoke of Zerhouni's immigrant roots, saying, "Dr. Zerhouni and his wife immigrated to America from Algeria with $300 in their pocket but [also with] a dream of opportunity." Leading the NIH "is a great responsibility, and I have picked the right man to do so," the president said.

Spread across 300 acres (approximately 120 hectares) in Bethesda, Maryland, the NIH comprises 27 institutes and centers. It employs 15,000 people and oversees more than 45,000 research grants, including projects in biotechnology, genetics, and research in disabling diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes, mental illness and cancer.

If confirmed by the Senate, Zerhouni would preside over the NIH at a pivotal moment, as the nation makes critical decisions in issues of cloning, stem-cell research and bioterrorism. He would oversee an estimated budget of $27 billion ($27,000 million) for fiscal year 2003, a $4 billion ($4,000 million) increase over the previous year's budget.

"Dr. Zerhouni is well-prepared to manage this rapidly growing institution during times of great, new opportunity and urgent biodefense needs," President Bush said at the White House ceremony. "One former colleague calls him a quadruple threat: a doctor who excels at teaching, researching, patient care and management."

Zerhouni's accomplishments have been numerous during his career at Johns Hopkins. He pioneered the use of new techniques in radiology, including tagged magnetic resonance imaging, a non-invasive way to monitor heart contractions. He has five patents in his name, including one for the Mammotome, a minimally invasive biopsy device, and he has founded or co-founded five companies that sell his inventions.

As head of the NIH, Zerhouni would join the ranks of other Arab-Americans who have worked in top administration positions, past and present. The first Arab-American to serve in a U.S. Cabinet position, Donna Shalala was appointed by former President Bill Clinton in 1993 and became the nation's longest serving Secretary of Health and Human Services. Former New Hampshire governor and White House chief of staff John Sununu is also Arab-American.

Two Arab-Americans serve in George W. Bush's Cabinet: U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mitchell Daniels. George Mitchell, the former senator from Maine who worked for both the Clinton and current Bush administrations as an envoy to Northern Ireland and the Middle East, is also of Arab descent.

An Arab-American from the Reagan administration, Selwa Roosevelt, became America's longest-serving White House chief of protocol. Arab-Americans have also become eminent U.S. ambassadors, including Thomas A. Nassif, the late Ambassador Philip Habib and current Ambassador to United Arab Emirates Marcelle Wahba.

As for Zerhouni's path from a childhood in Algeria to a high-level nomination in the George W. Bush administration, Zerhouni said, "Twenty-seven years ago, my wife and I left our home country of Algeria to come to America, where we had little money, no family and friends. Since then we have raised a family proud to be American citizens."

"We worked hard and have been amply rewarded," he said. "But I could not have dreamed of ever being offered the privilege to serve America in this capacity."