Adele Merritt named CIO of National Institutes of Health

Adele Merritt has been named the top IT official for the National Institutes of Health, giving the agency a permanent chief information officer for the first time in roughly two years.

Merritt, who was most recently the CIO of the intelligence community, began her roles as CIO and director of the agency’s Office of the Chief Information Officer on Monday, NIH Director Monica M. Bertagnolli said in a written announcement. 

According to Bertagnolli, Merritt comes to NIH with more than 20 years experience in cyber and national security operations and has held positions across the government intelligence community. Merritt, a mathematician, was also previously the Department of Energy’s principal deputy CIO for cyber and held senior positions on the staff of the White House National Security Council, according to the announcement.

“Her breadth of experience and passion for harnessing technology to drive mission outcomes will be invaluable to NIH in advancing cutting-edge IT solutions in support of biomedical research and public health,” Bertagnolli said.

Merritt takes over for Dennis Papula, who served as the acting CIO and acting director of the OCIO since January 2023, following the retirement of NIH’s longtime CIO Andrea Norris. Papula similarly has a new role as the new CIO of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, which is also part of the the Department of Health and Human Services. He started that role Dec. 15. 

The announcement comes a few weeks after HHS named Jennifer Wendel as its permanent CIO. Wendel had been serving as acting CIO since Karl Mathias departed the agency for a role at NASA nearly a year ago.