By Kevin Davies, PhD - March 3, 2025 - After an illustrious career including 12 years as director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and leading the international Human Genome Project (HGP) consortium, Francis Collins, MD, PhD, announced his sudden resignation from the NIH over the weekend.
He joined the NIH in 1993, a guitar-playing physician-scientist (and born-again Christian) who could not resist the challenge of helming the sequencing of the human genome. “How could I walk away from the chance to lead such an historic enterprise?” he wrote.
Collins served three presidents during his 12 years as NIH director, including the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also served as chief White House science advisor to President Biden, accepting the position following the sudden resignation of his HGP ally, Eric Lander, PhD. Throughout his tenure, Collins maintained his research lab at the NHGRI, publishing a paper in GEN’s sister peer-reviewed journal, The CRISPR Journal, led by Lori Bonnycastle, PhD, 12 months ago on the generation of induced pluripotent stem cell lines using prime editing.
Collins released his resignation statement the day after officially retiring from the NIH on February 28. “It has been the greatest honor of my life to be part of this institution in various roles over the last four decades,” he said. He expressed his “gratitude and love” to his many colleagues “of extraordinary intellect and integrity” since he arrived on campus in Bethesda, MD, in 1993.
“They personify excellence in every way, and they deserve the utmost respect and support of all Americans,” Collins said.
Click here to continue reading.