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Lawrence A. Tabak, DDS, PhD, is the Acting Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), taking office in December 2021.
Tabak has served as the Principal Deputy Director and the Deputy Ethics Counselor of NIH since August 2010. He previously served as the Acting Principal Deputy Director of NIH (2009), and prior to that as Director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research from 2000 to 2010.
Prior to joining NIH, Tabak was the Senior Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Dentistry and Biochemistry & Biophysics in the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Rochester in New York. A former NIH MERIT recipient, Tabak's major research focus has been on the structure, biosynthesis, and function of glycoproteins. He continues work in this area, maintaining an active research laboratory within the NIH intramural program in addition to his administrative duties.
Tabak is an elected member the National Academy of Medicine (formerly Institute of Medicine) of the National Academies. He received his undergraduate degree from City College of New York, his DDS from Columbia University, and a PhD from the University of Buffalo.