April 4, 2025—The Society for Women’s Health Research issued the following statement in response to the announced departure of Diana Bianchi, MD, from the National Institutes of Health.
The Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR), in response to the leadership transitions at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), extends our gratitude to Diana Bianchi, MD, Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) for her unwavering commitment to advancing women’s health research and policy. We are deeply disappointed in the decision to place Dr. Bianchi on administrative leave, as it represents a significant loss of expertise at NIH—an issue we have raised in our broader statement on the workforce optimization executive order.
Dr. Bianchi has been instrumental in advancing critical research and policies that have strengthened our understanding of women’s health, especially gynecologic and maternal health. In addition to her myriad accomplishments as NICHD Director, Dr. Bianchi is a practicing medical geneticist, with expertise in reproductive genetics and genomics, and leads an intramural research lab in the National Human Genome Research Institute. She’s published more than 370 peer-reviewed articles and has been widely recognized for her achievements. In recognition of her contributions to the field, SWHR honored Dr. Bianchi with its Health Public Service Visionary Award in 2020.
As we reflect on the contributions of this extraordinary leader, we hope her legacy will endure, inspiring continued investment in research that addresses the unique health needs of women across the lifespan. We urge NIH to build upon this important work and remain committed to policies that will help us close the women’s health gap.
We thank Dr. Bianchi and the other NIH departing leaders—whose dedication has strengthened the U.S. research enterprise and expanded our scientific knowledge—for their service and remain committed to working with NIH to ensure that women’s health remains at the forefront of scientific and policy discussions.