National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., today announced the selection of Peter Joseph Embí, M.D., M.S., as director of NIH's National Library of Medicine (NLM). Dr. Embí, an internationally recognized leader in biomedical informatics and health system innovation, brings nearly three decades of clinical, research, academic, and executive leadership experience to the position. He currently serves as a tenured professor of biomedical informatics and internal medicine and the Endowed Director of Biomedical Informatics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, where he has also served as chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics, Senior Vice-President for Research and Innovation, and, most recently, founding director of the ADVANCE AI Center. He is anticipated to begin his role on Sept. 10, 2026.
"Dr. Embí is a pioneer at the intersection of biomedical informatics, research, and clinical care, with a proven track record of turning data into better health outcomes," said Dr. Bhattacharya. "As NLM enters an era defined by AI and data-driven discovery, his leadership will be essential to ensuring the library continues to serve as a trusted, cutting-edge resource for researchers, clinicians, and the public."
As the NLM's fifth director since it became the National Library of Medicine in 1956, Dr. Embí will oversee the world's largest biomedical library and shepherd the investment of its approximately $495 million annual budget. He will lead a workforce of nearly 1,400 who support NLM as a global leader in biomedical informatics and computational health data science research. NLM has a multifaceted role as an information hub, learning center, and innovation incubator and plays a central role in advancing science through the effective use of data and analytics for discovery and health care. NLM makes the world's biomedical data and information available, accessible, and understandable to all. NLM also conducts and funds research, development, and training in biomedical informatics and health information technology, hosts the world's largest and most heavily accessed genomic data repositories, and coordinates the Network of the National Library of Medicine, which actively engages with more than 2,000 member organizations to provide training opportunities, resources, and health information in communities across the United States.
Dr. Embí previously served as President and CEO of the Regenstrief Institute, Vice-President for Learning Health Systems at IU Health, and professor and associate dean at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. Earlier, at The Ohio State University, he served as professor and vice-chair of biomedical informatics and as the nation's first chief research information officer.
Throughout his career, Dr. Embí has advanced the use of health data, evidence, and emerging technologies to improve care, accelerate research, championed the safe and effective adoption of artificial intelligence in medicine, and trained generations of physicians and scientists in biomedical informatics. He is credited as a founder of the field of clinical research informatics and originated the concept of algorithmovigilance, the systematic evaluation and monitoring of AI in health care.
Dr. Embí earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Florida, in Gainesville, and his medical doctorate from the University of South Florida, in Tampa. He completed his internal medicine residency at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, followed by a fellowship in biomedical informatics there, during which he earned a Master of Science in medical informatics and clinical epidemiology. He subsequently completed fellowship training in rheumatology and immunology at the Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Embí is president of the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) and a past president and board chair of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA). His honors include election to the National Academy of Medicine and to fellowships in the American College of Physicians, ACMI, and the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics. In recognition of his leadership and contributions to the field, Dr. Embí received the William W. Stead Award for Thought Leadership from AMIA.
"I would also like to extend my appreciation to Stephen Sherry, Ph.D., who has led NLM as its Acting Director since October 2023. We appreciate the dedicated leadership he has provided," said Dr. Bhattacharya.
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is a leader in research in biomedical informatics and data science and the world's largest biomedical library. NLM conducts and supports research in methods for recording, storing, retrieving, preserving, and communicating health information. NLM creates resources and tools that are used billions of times each year by millions of people to access and analyze molecular biology, biotechnology, toxicology, environmental health, and health services information. Additional information is available at https://www.nlm.nih.gov .
