Elias Zerhouni

Elias Zerhouni (Arabic: إلياس زرهوني, born April 12, 1951) is an Algerian-born American scientist, radiologist, biomedical engineer, entrepreneur, and pharmaceutical industry executive.

Zerhouni was a member of the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, serving as an executive vice dean from 1996 to 2002. He served as the 15th director of the National Institutes of Health from May 2, 2002, to October 31, 2008, under the George W. Bush administration. In 2009, under the Obama administration, he was one of the first presidential science envoys, working to foster scientific and technological collaboration with other nations. He was a senior fellow for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation from 2009 to 2010. From January 2011 until his retirement on June 30, 2018, he was president of global research and development at the pharmaceutical company Sanofi.

In October 2020, Zerhouni co-founded ModeX Therapeutics, a privately held biotechnology company developing multi-specific immune therapies for cancer and infectious diseases. In 2022, ModeX was acquired by OPKO Health, and Zerhouni was appointed president and vice chairman of OPKO Health.