Dr. Francis Collins, the legendary former director of the National Institutes of Health, has retired, NPR has learned.
Collins, who notified the NIH on Friday of his decision, did not specify the reasons for his departure. But his retirement comes as the world's largest public funder of biomedical research is in turmoil under the Trump administration, facing cutbacks and layoffs.
"I have loved being employed by this extraordinary, life-giving institution for 32 years." Collins wrote in a statement dated Saturday.
Music, religion ... and science
Collins, a guitar-playing geneticist who discovered genes for a number of diseases and led the historic project that mapped the human genetic blueprint, is a rare figure in the scientific world. An evangelical Christian, Collins espoused that science and religion complement each other.
"I will continue to devote my life in other ways to seeking knowledge and enhancing health, to healing disease and reducing suffering, and to doing what I can to bring together our fractured communities around the shared values of love, truth, goodness, and faith."
Collins joined NIH in 1993 and led the agency under presidents of both parties from 2009 through 2021. He then stepped down as NIH director, but continued his research in his lab at the agency.
Collins, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the long-time head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, were bitterly criticized by some members of Congress and others during and after the pandemic over lockdowns, masks and the origins of the virus.
Collins' retirement was effective Friday. The NIH did not issue a statement.
Dr. Ashish Jha emailed NPR about the news: "Francis Collins is one of the most important scientific leaders of our era," wrote Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health who served as President Biden's COVID-19 response coordinator. "As a scientist and as a leader of NIH, he helped usher in the era of genomic medicine and so many of the cures we are seeing now are due to his vision for what mapping the human genome could accomplish."
Jha also noted: "There have been criticisms of his leadership during the pandemic and no one managed things perfectly, But he marshalled the scientific forces of the NIH to help us launch a vaccine in record time, " Jha wrote in an email to NPR. "We all owe Dr. Francis a large debt of gratitude."
"Francis was a stellar scientist and a passionate advocate for basic and translational biomedical research," said Dr. George Daley, the Harvard Medical School dean, in an email to NPR. "His visionary leadership and tireless efforts maintained the NIH as a premier government institution, garnering support from both political parties in Washington. His departure is a huge loss to both the federal government and the U.S. biomedical enterprise."
The future of NIH
The NIH is among the federal agencies reeling from the Trump administration's campaign to downsize the federal government. NIH has lost about 1,200 of the agency's 18,000 employees in the layoffs so far. Other top leaders have recently left.
"As I depart NIH, I want to express my gratitude and love for the men and women with whom I have worked side-by-side for so many years. They are individuals of extraordinary intellect and integrity, selfless and hard-working, generous and compassionate. They personify excellence in every way, and they deserve the utmost respect and support of all Americans," Collins wrote.
The Trump administration is also trying to restrict the NIH's grant-making process. The NIH funds nearly $48 billion in scientific research through nearly 50,000 grants to more than 300,000 researchers at more than 2,500 universities, medical schools and other institutions.
The administration wants to cap what the NIH pays for indirect costs of doing medical research at 15%. Scientists say that could cripple medical research. A federal judge in Boston is deciding whether the cap can go forward.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford University health economist who has been critical of the NIH and clashed with Collins over the pandemic, faces his Senate confirmation on Wednesday to take over the agency.
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