The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has proposed a new office to lead its artificial intelligence work, but the proposal doesn’t say what the office would do, who would run it or how much it would cost.
The James H. Shannon Building on NIH’s campus in Bethesda, MD Credit: Lydia Polimeni, National Institutes of Health
On Oct. 14, NIH published a notice proposing an Office of the NIH Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer (OCAIO) within the Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI), which identifies emerging research opportunities and coordinates work that cuts across NIH’s 27 institutes and centers. The notice would also move the Office of Dietary Supplements under the Office of Nutrition Research, which is also part of DPCPSI.
“The proposed reorganization would establish clear organizational leadership for an emerging NIH-wide priority by creating the OCAIO,” the agency said in the proposal.
Public comments on the proposal are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on Oct. 28 and can be emailed to [email protected].
The office would report directly to the DPCPSI director, according to a proposed organizational chart posted on NIH’s website. The proposal did not include the office’s functions, staffing, budget or effective date. DPCPSI presented the proposal to NIH’s Council of Councils on Sept. 10. DPCPSI Director Nicole Kleinstreuer told the council that the division’s size would not change and that funds and resources would be moved around instead, according to a meeting summary from the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences (FABBS). The NIH did not respond to R&D World’s request for comment.
NIH’s proposal comes amid a broader federal push to formalize AI leadership. An April 2025 Office of Management and Budget memo directed agencies to retain or designate chief AI officers to oversee adoption and governance. On Sept. 8, HHS announced Jared Seehafer’s selection as FDA’s first deputy commissioner for technology and AI, responsible for setting agencywide strategy and priorities in those areas. FDA has also begun incorporating AI into regulatory work. In June 2025, it launched Elsa, a generative AI tool the agency said employees were using to review clinical protocols, evaluate scientific information and identify high-priority inspection targets. The tool initially elicited mixed reviews from agency staff and industry observers.
The title that predates the office
Gil Alterovitz was NIH’s first chief AI officer, holding the title for about three months in 2025, during which he led the development of the request for information (RFI) that NIH released in June 2025, seeking input on its first AI strategic plan, according to GovCIO Media. NIH has not released the finalized plan or a summary of comments, which it has done for some past RFIs.
The NIH Library event page listed Brad Bower as the chief AI officer on Aug. 20, 2026, and he was introduced as NIH’s newly appointed chief AI officer at the council’s Sept. 11 meeting, according to FABBS. Bower is listed as “Chief AI and Data Science Officer” on the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) staff page.
Bower came to NIH as a Data and Technology Advancement (DATA) National Service Scholar at NIBIB. The DATA program brings outside data scientists to NIH. Bower’s DATA scholar project covered interoperability among NIH data repositories, public-private data partnerships and moving AI products from early research toward commercial use, according to his staff page.
At the September council meeting, Bower said he planned to present a final draft of NIH’s AI strategic plan in October and publish it in November.
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