David C. Goff Jr., MD, PhD, was named the director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) division of cardiovascular sciences on Sept. 29.

Goff, who has been dean of the Colorado School of Public Health since 2012, will assume his duties at NHLBI effective Nov. 28.

Goff takes over for George Mensah, MD, who has been the division’s acting director for the past year. Michael Lauer, MD, was the division’s director until September 2015 when he received a promotion and became deputy director for extramural research and director of the NIH office of extramural research activities.

Goff has served as the principal investigator for research projects valued at more than $50 million during his career, according to an NHLBI news release. He was principal investigator for NHLBI-clinical networks within the ACCORD and SPRINT trials. Before assuming his role at the Colorado School of Public Health, he was the chair of the department of epidemiology and prevention in the division of public health sciences at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina.

“Given Dr. Goff’s extensive education and record of accomplishment, I am confident in his ability to foster a cardiovascular research program across the spectrum of basic, translational, clinical, and population research,” Gary H. Gibbons, MD, director of the NHLBI, wrote in a letter posted on the NHLBI website. “Dr. Goff and I share a commitment to nurture our extramural cardiovascular researchers, and to cultivate a cardiovascular sciences implementation plan for the NHLBI Strategic Vision. We look forward to continuing to work with you as we support research to enhance the cardiovascular health of the nation.”