WASHINGTON ¿ Ruth Kirschstein, acting director of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., appointed Donna Dean as acting director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB).

The NIBIB, the newest NIH institute, was created by statute and was signed into law in December. Dean will serve as acting director until a permanent director is named by Tommy Thompson, secretary of Health and Human Services.

The mission of the NIBIB is to support the fundamental research that applies the principles of engineering and imaging science to biological processes, disorders and diseases. The institute will facilitate the transfer of this research to medical applications.

Dean has served in the office of the NIH director as a senior scientific adviser for the past three years and played a lead role in implementing the legislative establishment of NIBIB. ¿ Kim Coghill