National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., today announced the selection of Steven Schiff, M.D., Ph.D., as the next director of the Fogarty International Center (FIC) and NIH associate director for international research. Schiff began his role on June 4, 2026.
A pediatric neurosurgeon and global health researcher, Schiff currently serves as the Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Neurosurgery, vice chair for global health in the Department of Neurosurgery, and professor of epidemiology and of electrical and computer engineering at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
"Dr. Schiff brings nearly 40 years of experience in global health, epidemiology of microbial diseases, and pediatric neurological disorders to NIH," said Dr. Bhattacharya. "His groundbreaking work on developing the concept of predictive personalized public health will bring a cutting-edge scientific mind to the NIH leadership team. Additionally, I extend my thanks to Peter H. Kilmarx, M.D., who has been serving as the acting director of FIC since early 2025."
As director of FIC, Schiff will lead NIH's global health research efforts by supporting collaborations between U.S. and international investigators, strengthening partnerships among research institutions worldwide, and training future global health scientists. He will oversee the center's approximately $95 million annual budget, most of which supports research grants and training programs.
Schiff has authored nearly 250 scientific publications spanning neural control engineering, sustainable health engineering, and global health. He founded the Center for Neural Engineering at Penn State University and helped develop the Center for Global Neurosurgery at Yale.
He received the NIH Director's Pioneer and Transformative Awards in 2015 and 2018, respectively, which have enabled him to pursue his interests in the sustainable control of infant infections in the developing world. His research led to the identification of neonatal paenibacilliosis, a severe infant brain infection caused most commonly by Paenibacillus thiaminolyticus. The disease is increasingly recognized as an underdiagnosed cause of neonatal sepsis in resource-limited settings and has recently been identified in infants in the United States.
Schiff earned his undergraduate degree in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Duke University, where he also completed a general surgery internship and neurosurgery residency. He completed a pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American College of Surgeons, American Association of Neurological Surgery, American Physical Society, and the American Epilepsy Society. He also currently serves on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Medical Devices Advisory Committee and as a member of the Executive Committee, Topical Group on Medical Physics of the American Physical Society.
