Science misinformation alarms Francis Collins as he leaves top NIH job
By Nidhi Subbaraman,
Nature
| 12. 03. 2021
The genome project leader reflects on his 12 years at the helm of a juggernaut biomedical agency, and what lies ahead.
This month, Francis Collins will step down as director of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) after more than 12 years leading the agency, the world’s biggest public funder of biomedical research. A former head of the Human Genome Project, he championed similar bold, big-budget science efforts, such as the All of Us Project, which aims to study health data from one million people. He led the NIH under three US presidents, steered it through a roiling pandemic, and faced myriad clashes over politics and biomedical science. Collins will stay on at the NIH to continue research in his lab. He spoke to Nature about some highlights of his time at the helm, and issues facing the agency in the future.
Which achievement will you cherish most?
It’s really hard to pick one. Maybe it’s where it was possible to bring together scientists of multiple disciplines and organize a truly bold, audacious project that would simply not have happened if one just counted on it coming together passively. I’m thinking of the BRAIN Initiative. I’m thinking of what...
Related Articles
By Mariella Bodemeier Loayza Careaga, The Scientist | 03.15.2024
Scientists have genetically modified isolated microbes for decades. Now, using CRISPR, they intend to target entire microbiomes.
Humans are never alone. Even in a room devoid of other people, they are always in the company of billions of microscopic beings...
By Gerry Smith, Bloomberg | 03.12.2024
When Celenise Mahmood first learned about two new gene therapies that could cure sickle cell disease, she felt a wave of relief.
Her 9-year-old son, Navid, has the inherited blood disorder. By age 5, he’d had over 30 life-saving blood...
By Carol Cardona and Michelle Kromm, Scientific American | 03.11.2024
By Nada Hassanein, New Jersey Monitor | 03.14.2024
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration late last year approved two breakthrough gene therapies for sickle cell disease patients. Now a new federal program seeks to make these life-changing treatments available to patients with low incomes — and it could...