Rep. Andy Harris Met With Trump to Discuss Medical Research

Rep. Andy Harris, a Maryland Republican whose name has been floated as a possible director of the National Institutes of Health, met Wednesday with President-elect Donald Trump.

Harris, a Johns Hopkins-trained anesthesiologist, has been mentioned as a possible candidate to lead the Bethesda-based medical research agency for weeks. Harris, of Baltimore County, is the only member of Congress who has conducted NIH-funded research.

Trump also met Wednesday with Dr. Francis Collins, the current director of the agency. Trump ally and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said recently that Collins was being considered to continue in the post.

The meetings indicate that the incoming administration is turning its attention to the NIH, which in addition to being a driver of medical research is also an economic engine in Maryland. The agency has about 18,000 employees in the state, and it awards more than $1 billion a year to local universities and other entities.

 

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