Gary Gibbons retired from NHLBI

Gary H. Gibbons, M.D., has retired from his position as Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) at the NIH, a post he held since 2012. Throughout his career, Dr. Gibbons has conducted and championed research in the prevention and treatment of heart, lung, and blood diseases. After earning degrees from Princeton and Harvard Medical School, he served as the founding Director of the Morehouse Cardiovascular Research Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta. 

His research focuses on investigating the relationships between clinical phenotypes, behavior, molecular interactions, and social determinants on gene expression and their contribution to cardiovascular disease.

Under Dr. Gibbons’s leadership, the NHLBI made many scientific contributions in the fields of vascular biology, genomic medicine, and the pathogenesis of vascular diseases. Some of his most notable efforts include the NHLBI-supported Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT), which showed health benefits of intensive blood pressure management to below a commonly recommended target. Remarkable progress also was made towards finding a cure for sickle cell disease (SCD) through the Cure Sickle Cell Initiative, which launched in late 2018. The FDA approved the first gene therapies for SCD in December 2023.

Dr. Gibbons advocated for the use of big data through NHLBI’s TOPMed program, which has supported collection and analysis of whole genome and other molecular and clinical data from more than 200,000 participants. This effort generated major findings in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and obstructive sleep apnea. He also led NIH-wide initiatives like the Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) initiative, and the NIH Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) to address the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 in specific communities across the country and examine the debilitating conditions that have come to be known as Long COVID respectively. 

In addition to spending more time with family, Dr. Gibbons plans to continue doing what he loves by continuing his ongoing contributions to the field – asking questions and exploring scientific approaches toward answers that improve lives – through whatever settings and opportunities that arise.