Government
Senate confirms Dr. Collins as NIH director
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 17, 2009
The Senate on Aug. 7 unanimously confirmed Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, as director of the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Collins is well known for having led the Human Genome Project, an initiative to sequence and map human genes that concluded in 2003. His research efforts helped lead to the discovery of several important genes, including those responsible for cystic fibrosis, neurofibromatosis, Huntington's disease and adult onset diabetes. President Obama nominated him for the NIH position on July 8.
"Dr. Collins is one of our generation's great scientific leaders," said Kathleen Sebelius, Dept. of Health and Human Services secretary. "Today is an exciting day for NIH and for science in this country."
Dr. Collins received a BS in chemistry from the University of Virginia, a PhD in physical chemistry from Yale University in Connecticut and an MD from the University of North Carolina. Before coming to NIH in 1993, he spent nine years on the faculty of the University of Michigan, where he was an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/08/17/gvbf0817.htm.
