Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
Dr. Peter Joseph Embí has been named director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine (NLM), NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., announced. Dr. Embí, an internationally recognized leader in biomedical informatics and health system innovation, brings nearly 30 years of clinical, research, academic, and executive experience to the role. He is expected to begin his directorship on September 10, 2026.
Currently, Dr. Embí is a tenured professor of biomedical informatics and internal medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. He has served as chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics, Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation, and founding director of the ADVANCE AI Center. According to NIH, his expertise in transforming data into improved health outcomes is a key asset as the NLM advances into an era focused on artificial intelligence and data-driven discovery.
As the fifth director of the NLM since its founding in 1956, Dr. Embí will lead the world’s largest biomedical library. The NLM manages an annual budget of approximately $495 million and employs nearly 1,400 people. Its mission is to provide biomedical data and information to researchers, clinicians, and the public worldwide. The NLM also conducts research in biomedical informatics and health information technology, manages major genomic data repositories, and coordinates a network of over 2,000 member organizations delivering resources and health information across the United States.
Before joining Vanderbilt, Dr. Embí was President and CEO of the Regenstrief Institute, Vice President for Learning Health Systems at IU Health, and professor and associate dean at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis.