Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., today announced his decision to end his tenure as the director of the National Institutes of Health by the end of the year. Dr. Collins is the longest serving presidentially appointed NIH director, having served three U.S. presidents over more than 12 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been an incredible privilege to lead this great agency for more than a decade,\u201d said Dr. Collins. \u201cI love this agency and its people so deeply that the decision to step down was a difficult one, done in close counsel with my wife, Diane Baker, and my family. I am proud of all we\u2019ve accomplished. I fundamentally believe, however, that no single person should serve in the position too long, and that it\u2019s time to bring in a new scientist to lead the NIH into the future. I\u2019m most grateful and proud of the NIH staff and the scientific community, whose extraordinary commitment to lifesaving research delivers hope to the American people and the world every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Collins said his decision to leave was not related to any type of political pressure or his relationship with Dr. Anthony Fauci.<\/p>\n
A physician-geneticist, Dr. Collins took office as the 16th NIH director on August 17, 2009, after being appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In 2017, he was asked to continue in his role by President Donald Trump, and in 2021, by President Joe Biden. Prior to becoming the NIH director, Dr. Collins served as the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) from 1993-2008, where he led the international Human Genome Project, which culminated in April 2003 with the completion of a finished sequence of the human DNA instruction book.<\/p>\n
\u201cFew people could come anywhere close to achieving in a lifetime what Dr. Collins has at the helm of NIH,\u201d said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. \u201cIt takes an extraordinary person to tackle the biggest scientific challenges facing our nation \u2014 and under three presidents, amidst three distinctly different chapters of American history. Dr. Collins, master of scientific breakthroughs and scientific reason \u2014 from mapping the human genome to fighting the most devastating pandemic of a century \u2014 has routinely broken ground to save countless lives, while unleashing innovation to benefit humanity for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., today announced his decision to end his tenure as the director of the National Institutes of Health by the end of the year. Dr. Collins is the longest serving presidentially appointed NIH director, having served three U.S. presidents over more than 12 years. \u201cIt has been an incredible privilege to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3507,"featured_media":164459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[1,4533,37],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n