Intelligence CIO moves to helm IT at the National Institutes of Health
Lydia Polimeni, National Institutes of Health
Adele Merritt, who served as CIO for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence since January 2022, took over as the NIH CIO on Dec. 16.
The National Institutes of Health announced Monday that the Intelligence Community chief information officer has taken on a similar leadership position within their agency.
NIH said Adele Merritt officially assumed her new role on Dec. 16 as the agency’s CIO and Director of the NIH Office of the Chief Information Officer. She had previously been serving as CIO for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence since January 2022.
The agency is a component of the Department of Health and Human Services and conducts biomedical research. Merritt will report to Sean Mooney, NIH’s associate director for information technology, cyberinfrastructure and cybersecurity.
NIH said in a statement that Merritt “is well positioned to drive the strategic direction of NIH IT resources and infrastructure,” particularly when it comes to helming its related strategy, policy, governance, security and oversight efforts.
As the Intelligence Community CIO, Merritt was responsible for overseeing IT efforts across 18 different federal agencies, including when it came to modernizing systems and enhancing cybersecurity practices.
“Her leadership has also been instrumental in advancing cybersecurity innovation and partnerships through her work with the Technology Advancement Center, formerly known as MISI, a non-profit organization that collaborates with industry, academia and government,” NIH noted in its release.
Merritt was the recipient of a 2024 Federal 100 award, which recognizes individuals who have gone above and beyond over the past year in advancing federal IT initiatives. Her nominators called her a champion for onboarding top technology talent and noted her efforts to build collaborative partnerships across the intelligence community and with outside partners.
During an Intelligence and National Security Alliance event last December, Merritt said that intelligence agencies must look “beyond the Beltway” to recruit top-tier professionals into key cybersecurity roles. She added that agencies should “demystify” their work by engaging with college students to build a workforce that can meet future challenges.
Prior to joining the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Merritt served as principal deputy CIO for cyber at the Energy Department and held senior positions as a staffer for the National Security Council.