Collins stepping down as NIH director
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NIH Director Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, who has served under three U.S. presidents, will step down from the position by the end of the year, according to an agency press release.
During Collins’ 12-year tenure, he oversaw many efforts to combat opioid use disorder, rare diseases and the COVID-19 pandemic. He also started the All of Us Research Program, which will utilize health data from hundreds of thousands of Americans to enhance disease prevention and treatment efforts; the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative, which aims to comprehend the causes of conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, psychosis and other serious brain diseases; and the Cancer Moonshot Initiative, which seeks to “fuel innovation and speed new treatments to reduce cancer incidence and improve patient outcomes,” according to the press release.
Collins, the longest-serving presidentially appointed NIH director, called the opportunity to serve in the position an “incredible privilege.”
“I am proud of all we’ve accomplished,” Collins added. “I fundamentally believe, however, that no single person should serve in the position too long, and that it’s time to bring in a new scientist to lead the NIH into the future.”
He also expressed gratitude and appreciation for his colleagues at NIH and others within the scientific community, “whose extraordinary commitment to lifesaving research delivers hope to the American people and the world every day.”
A successor to Collins was not immediately named, but he or she will need Senate confirmation.
Whomever that person is will have difficult shoes to fill, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said.
“Few people could come anywhere close to achieving in a lifetime what Dr. Collins has at the helm of NIH,” Becerra said in the release. “Dr. Collins, master of scientific breakthroughs and scientific reason — from mapping the human genome to fighting the most devastating pandemic of a century — has routinely broken ground to save countless lives, while unleashing innovation to benefit humanity for generations to come.”