It’s with mixed emotions that I share that Ming Lei left our Division for Research Capacity Building (DRCB) earlier this month to become senior associate vice president for research and graduate education at West Virginia University (WVU) Health Sciences. Ming also joined the faculty in WVU’s School of Medicine as vice dean for research and a professor in the department of microbiology, immunology, and cell biology.
Ming has been part of the NIH community since 2008, serving in key positions at the National Cancer Institute before joining NIGMS in 2018. During his tenure in DRCB, Ming led numerous initiatives to enhance existing programs and to create new ones, including the IDeA Regional Entrepreneurship Development program. Additionally, he oversaw creation of important DRCB supplements and led NIH-wide efforts supporting underserved communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although we’ll miss Ming a great deal, I’m confident his expertise in developing and managing complex programs will serve WVU Health Sciences and the broader community well.
Plans for the search for Ming’s replacement are underway, and we’ll communicate more information with you via this blog once we have it. In the meantime, I’m pleased to share that Michele McGuirl has agreed to serve as the acting DRCB director.