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Tara A. Schwetz

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Tara A. Schwetz
Deputy Director for Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives of the National Institutes of Health
Incumbent
Assumed office
October 2023
Principal Deputy Director of the National Institutes of Health
Acting
In office
December 2021 – November 2023
Preceded byLawrence A. Tabak
Succeeded byLawrence A. Tabak
Director of the National Institute of Nursing Research
Acting
In office
January 2020 – September 2020
Preceded byLawrence A. Tabak (acting)
Succeeded byShannon Zenk
Associate Deputy Director of the National Institutes of Health
In office
January 2019 – November 2021
Preceded byCourtney F. Aklin (Acting)
Personal details
Born (1983-05-04) May 4, 1983 (age 41)
Lakeland, Florida, U.S.
SpouseBrian Schwetz
EducationFlorida State University (BS)
University of South Florida (PhD)

Tara A. Schwetz (born Tara Ashley Munn; May 4, 1983) is an American biophysicist and government administrator who serves as a deputy director of the National Institutes of Health. She previously served as Acting Principal Deputy Director.[1][2]

Prior to her appointment as Acting Principal Deputy Director, she served as the Associate Deputy Director, NIH—a role she has held began in January 2019.[3]

She joined the NIH in 2012 as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellow and has held a number of positions during her time at the agency.

Education

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A native of Lakeland, Florida, Schwetz is a first-generation college graduate. Schwetz received a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry with honors from Florida State University in 2005 (Honors Thesis: Non-metal activation of iron-dependent regulator protein in mycobacterium tuberculosis). She then went on to earn a Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Sciences, Biophysics from the University of South Florida in 2009 (Dissertation: Glycosylation Modulates Cardiac Excitability by Altering Voltage-Gated Potassium Currents[4]). Schwetz was a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of David W. Piston at Vanderbilt University from 2009 to 2012.[5]

Career

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Throughout her nearly decade-long career at the NIH, Schwetz has held multiple positions, both within the Office of the Director and across several Institutes.

During her tenure as the Associate Deputy Director of NIH, Schwetz served as the Acting Director and Acting Deputy Director of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR).[6]

Her former roles include Chief of the Strategic Planning and Evaluation Branch at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, where she led several efforts, including an evaluation of the Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance[7] to facilitate evidence-based decision-making and development of the NIAID Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis Research.[8][9] Schwetz also served as the Senior Advisor to the Principal Deputy Director of NIH, the NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO)[10] Interim Associate Program Director,[11] and as a Health Science Policy Analyst at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Schwetz started her career at NIH as an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at NINR.

Schwetz has led or co-led a number of high-profile, agency-wide efforts, including two Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx)[12] programs (RADx Underserved Populations,[13] RADx Radical[14])[15][16] to speed innovation in the development, commercialization, and implementation of technologies for COVID-19 testing, and the Implementing a Maternal health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE)[17][18] initiative. She also spearheaded several strategic planning efforts, such as the first NIH-Wide Strategic Plan and the NIH-Wide COVID-19 Strategic Plan;[19][20][21] and played a significant role in the development of the National Pain Strategy.[22][23][24]

ARPA-H

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For much of 2021, Schwetz served on detail to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as the Assistant Director for Biomedical Science Initiatives.[25] In this role, she led development and planning efforts to stand up the proposed Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H).[26][27][28][29] The Biden Administration proposed ARPA-H in the fiscal year 2022 President’s budget request[30] to tackle some of the biggest health challenges faced by all Americans by driving medical innovation more rapidly.

Awards and honors

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Schwetz is the recipient of numerous NIH awards, including the NIH Ruth Kirschstein National Research Service Award. In addition, she received awards from the American Cancer Society and American Heart Association. She is also the first female recipient of the USF Genshaft Family Doctoral Fellowship.[31]

References

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  1. ^ "Acting Leaders Take Over at NIH Following Collins' Departure". www.faseb.org. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  2. ^ "Longtime No. 2 at NIH Tapped to Serve as Acting Director (1)". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  3. ^ "CC: Health 2021 | FSU Office of Research". www.research.fsu.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  4. ^ Schwetz TA, Norring SA, Ednie AR, Bennett ES. J Biol Chem. 2011;286(6):4123-32
  5. ^ Schwetz TA, Ustione A, Piston DW. Am J Physical Endocrinol Metab. 2013;304(2): E211-21
  6. ^ "Episode 106: NINR Director Discusses Nursing Research Amid COVID-19 | ONS". www.ons.org. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  7. ^ "Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance". NIAID CEIRS. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  8. ^ "NIAID Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis Research" (PDF). National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) (PDF). 2018-09-26. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  9. ^ "Speaker Biography: Dr. Tara A. Schwetz | Association of American Universities (AAU)". www.aau.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  10. ^ "Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program". National Institutes of Health (NIH). Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  11. ^ Factor-Litvak, Pam (2016-03-22). Research Section Sponsored Session: The NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program. Aspph.
  12. ^ "RADx". National Institutes of Health (NIH). Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  13. ^ "RADx Programs". National Institutes of Health (NIH). 2020-06-23. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  14. ^ "RADx Programs". National Institutes of Health (NIH). 2020-06-23. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  15. ^ Riley WT, Borja SE, Hooper MW, Lei M, Spotts EL, Phillips JRW, Gordon JA, Hodes RJ, Lauer MS, Schwetz TA, Pérez-Stable E. E. Transl Behav Med. 2020 Oct 8;10(4):857-861.
  16. ^ Tromberg BJ, Schwetz TA, Pérez-Stable EJ, Hodes RJ, Woychik RP, Bright RA, Fleurence RL, Collins FS. N Engl J Med. 2020 Sep 10;383(11):1071-1077. Epub 2020 Jul 22.
  17. ^ "IMPROVE Initiative". National Institutes of Health (NIH). Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  18. ^ tjordan_drupal. "NIH launches initiative to improve maternal health outcomes | AHA News". www.aha.org. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  19. ^ "National Institutes of Health | Strategic Plan on COVID-19". NIH COVID-19 Research. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  20. ^ "National Institutes of Health plan for COVID-19 research includes behavioral science". www.apa.org. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  21. ^ tjordan_drupal. "NIH strategic plan outlines COVID-19 research priorities | AHA News". www.aha.org. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  22. ^ "National Pain Strategy Report | IPRCC". www.iprcc.nih.gov. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  23. ^ "National Pain Strategy Released by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)". www.dvcipm.org. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  24. ^ "National Pain Strategy". Official web site of the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration. 2019-08-02. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  25. ^ "Dr. Tara A. Schwetz – PBM 2021". Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  26. ^ "ARPA-H". National Institutes of Health (NIH). Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  27. ^ "MEDIA AVAILABILITY: Lander, Collins Set Forth A Vision For ARPA-H". The White House. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  28. ^ Adashi, Eli Y.; Cohen, I. Glenn (2021-10-15). "The Biden Administration's Proposal for an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health". JAMA Health Forum. 2 (10): e212972. doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2021.2972. ISSN 2689-0186. PMID 36218894. S2CID 244597468.
  29. ^ "Biden's Speedy Medical Lab Will 'Ideally' Be Up in Fiscal 2022". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  30. ^ "President's Budget". The White House. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  31. ^ "Genshaft Family Doctoral Fellowship | Fellowships and Scholarships | Funding | Office of Graduate Studies | University of South Florida". www.usf.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
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