Lenfant, Claude, MD (b.1928)

Time Period: 2005

Claude Lenfant was director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for a record 21 years, from 1982 to 2003, through a period of remarkable growth at NIH.

He greatly increased the intellectual involvement and career opportunities of Institute staff in epidemiological pursuits of the funded studies, defended his staff vigorously, and earned the respectful antagonism of CVD investigators for his centralizing controls, particularly during the lean budget periods of the 1980s and 1990s.

In retirement Dr. Lenfant is active in international organizations concerned with hypertension and with respiratory diseases.