Associate Professor in Neurosurgery Kyle Walsh was appointed to serve as director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, one of the 27 institutes that constitute the National Institutes of Health. With the appointment, Walsh will also lead the National Toxicology Program in the Department of Health and Human Services.

In his new role, Walsh will oversee NIEHS research on how the environment can impact human health. The institute, headquartered in Research Triangle Park, supports in-house research and toxicology programs and administers the most federal grant funding for environmental health research in the world. 

The appointment, though, has drawn criticism over Walsh’s personal relationship with Vice President JD Vance and for bypassing standard search and vetting processes.

NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya announced Walsh’s appointment in an Oct. 17 email to NIEHS staff and said Walsh’s tenure had begun Oct. 10, but he will not assume duties until after completing federal onboarding protocols. However, due to the ongoing federal government shutdown, the NIH and NIEHS have not updated agency websites or issued a formal press release about Walsh’s appointment.

“The National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences … combines both bench science research in molecular toxicology and experimental studies with population science research,” Walsh said. “… It’s a fantastic place to do the type of work that I’ve done, but to also have the opportunity to work with fantastic community scientists and to help lead the charge in educating our next generation of research scientists.”

At Duke, Walsh helped establish the division of neuro-epidemiology within the department of neurosurgery in 2017. He also co-led the neuro-oncology research program at the Duke Cancer Institute, and supported research education at the Duke-UNC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. 

Walsh’s research focused on the epidemiology of brain cancer. He is the recipient of several active grants in chronic neurological disease research and education and has more than 180 publications listed. Walsh is also a senior fellow in the Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, and his lab integrates laboratory and statistical approaches to study the aging of glial cells in the brain.

“Duke’s just been a wonderful place to have called home,” Walsh said. “I’m excited that among the 27 institutes and centers at NIH, I’m getting the opportunity to lead one that is here in Research Triangle Park.”

Walsh described the institute’s education outreach as an area he is “most excited” about leading. The NIEHS supports multiple interdisciplinary training programs to prepare future researchers for work in the environmental health science field.

The appointment attracted national attention due to Walsh’s relationship with Vice President J.D. Vance. The News & Observer reported that Walsh’s selection did not follow traditional search and vetting processes, surprising current and former NIEHS employees.  

In an old interview with The Sontag Foundation, Walsh described Vance as one of his “closest friends” and noted that Vance officiated his wedding. In addition, Vance lived with Walsh and his wife for a few months in 2015 as the future Vice President finished writing his book, “Hillbilly Elegy.”

The two met at Yale University, where Walsh and Vance attended the school of medicine and law school, respectively. Both hail from Ohio and graduated from Ohio State University. 

This is not the first time Vance and Walsh have worked together. In February 2023, Walsh and Glenn Talaska, professor emeritus at the University of Cincinnati, authored a joint letter to then-Ohio Sens. Vance and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) about the potential health risks from cleaning up hazardous chemicals spilled in a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Talaska was an early researcher on the adverse health consequences of 9/11, and together the researchers provided recommendations to support the communities affected by the disaster. 

In response, Vance and Brown penned a letter to leaders of the Environmental Protection Agency and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, citing concerns raised by the pair of researchers.

After collaborating with Vance’s office regarding the East Palestine spill, Walsh was hired as a science policy adviser April 17, 2023. Disclosure forms show he continued advising work until Jan. 10, 2025 — 10 days before Vance assumed his new role as vice president.

Walsh praised former NIEHS Director Richard Woychik’s work, noting that Woychik will have the opportunity to apply the skills and experience he developed at NIEHS across the NIH, and that he felt grateful Woychik would continue to work with the NIH. 

“I feel very fortunate that he will continue to be an NIH employee in providing his services and talents to NIH, because he has been very helpful with these early stages of the transition [into the NIEHS],” Walsh said.