Duane Alexander, MD

Duane Alexander, MD

Director,
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health

Duane Alexander, MD, was named director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) on February 5, 1986, after serving as Acting Director. Dr. Alexander, a pediatrician, had been NICHD Deputy Director for three years and an assistant to the Director since 1978. Much of Dr. Alexander's career has been with the NICHD. With the exception of several special assignments, Dr. Alexander has been with the NICHD since 1968, following his residency in the department of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He came to NICHD as a clinical associate in the Children's Diagnostic and Study Branch. Following his tenure with the Branch, Dr. Alexander returned to Johns Hopkins as a fellow in pediatrics (developmental disabilities) at the John F. Kennedy Institute for Habilitation of the Mentally and Physically Handicapped Child. In 1971, Dr. Alexander returned to NICHD as Assistant to the Scientific Director and he directed the NICHD National Amniocentesis Study. The study established the safety and accuracy of prenatal diagnosis using amniocentesis, now widely used to detect numerous genetic defects and inborn errors of metabolism. From 1974 to 1978, Dr. Alexander served as medical officer in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, in what is now the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). During that time, he was also the physician on the staff of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, whose recommendations form the basis of current DHHS regulations that protect human subjects in research. As an officer in the Public Health Service (PHS), Dr. Alexander has received numerous PHS awards, including a Commendation Medal in 1970, a Meritorious Service Medal, and a Special Recognition Award in 1985. He also received the Surgeon General's Exemplary Service Medal in 1990. Dr. Alexander received his undergraduate degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1962 and his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1966. He also served his internship at Hopkins. A diplomat of the American Board of Pediatrics and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Association for Retarded Citizens, he has authored numerous papers and book chapter, most relating to his research in developmental disabilities.