NIH Appoints Wendy Weber, N.D., Ph.D., as NCCIH Director, Bringing Natural Product Research Background to the Role

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has named Wendy Weber, N.D., Ph.D., as director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), a center with the mission to “define, through rigorous scientific investigation, the usefulness and safety of complementary and integrative health approaches and their roles in improving health and health care.”¹ NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., announced the selection, and Dr. Weber began the role on August 23, 2026. Dr. Bhattacharya also thanked David Shurtleff, who had served as NCCIH's acting director since October 2025, for his leadership during the transition period.

What Was Her Role Before Taking the Directorship?

Dr. Weber had served as NCCIH's acting deputy director since October 2025, a position in which she contributed to the center's scientific leadership, strategic planning, and budget oversight. As director, she will now oversee administration of NCCIH's approximately $170 million budget, which supports research aimed at understanding the science, usefulness, and safety of complementary and integrative health.

In announcing the appointment, Dr. Bhattacharya highlighted Dr. Weber’s background in supporting the next phase of the NIH. “As the home of complex, multi-system health research, NCCIH is central in our mission to understand multifaceted chronic diseases and the role of nutritional interventions on health,” he stated. “Dr. Weber’s history of leadership in whole-person health, pain management research, and deep connection to NIH make her a natural fit to lead the center into a new chapter of rigorous scientific discovery.”

What Does Her NIH Track Record Include?

Dr. Weber's NIH tenure spans more than 15 years. She previously served as acting division director of extramural research at NCCIH and led the center's Clinical Research Branch for a decade, overseeing its establishment and expansion. She also provided scientific direction to two federal collaboratives: the multi-Institute NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory and the NIH-VA-DoD Pain Management Collaboratory, work the new release credits with advancing non-addictive pain management approaches such as acupuncture and mindfulness-based stress reduction.

What Is Her Background With Botanical and Nutritional Research?

Before joining the agency as a program director in 2009, Weber led clinical investigations of complementary health interventions at Bastyr University and Massachusetts General Hospital. While on the Bastyr faculty, she ran clinical trials examining botanical treatments, among them Echinacea's effect on the common cold. She was also the first naturopathic physician to receive an NIH career development (K) award; that award supported her clinical trial examining St. John's Wort as a treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Weber holds doctorate of naturopathic medicine (N.D.) from Bastyr University and a Master of Public Health and Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of Washington, a combination NIH describes as giving her a "dual perspective" bridging complementary health practice and research methodology, the announcement notes. According to her NCCIH staff biography, she also served as a research associate professor at Bastyr University, where her work included the study of herbal treatments for pediatric conditions, and her clinical practice focused on treating children and adolescents with mental health conditions, abdominal pain, headaches, and allergies.²

Her articles have appeared in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, and Pediatrics.

How Does This Fit Into Broader NIH Leadership Changes?

The appointment is one of several recent NIH leadership changes. In July 2026, NIH selected Courtney Aklin, PhD, as director of the National Institute of Nursing Research, and in June 2026 it named Raymond Jacobson, PhD, director of the Center for Scientific Review.³

References

1. National Institutes of Health. Dr. Wendy Weber to serve as director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. National Institutes of Health. August 24, 2026. Accessed August 25, 2026. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/dr-wendy-weber-serve-director-national-center-complementary-integrative-health
2. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Wendy J. Weber, N.D., Ph.D., M.P.H. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Accessed August 25, 2026. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/about/staff/wendy-j-weber
3. National Institutes of Health. News Releases. National Institutes of Health. Accessed August 25, 2026. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases?page=0