Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS Q&A

Science misinformation alarms Francis Collins as he leaves top NIH job

The genome project leader reflects on his 12 years at the helm of a juggernaut biomedical agency, and what lies ahead.
  1. Nidhi Subbaraman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

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.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 600, 372-373 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-03611-2

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

  • Postdoc Researcher

    Research into the synthesis of near-infrared emitting/absorbing functional soft materials and polymer composite materials.

    Tsukuba, Ibaraki (JP)

    National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)

  • Alzheimer's Disease (AD) Researcher/Associate Researcher

    Xiaoliang Sunney XIE’s Group is recruiting researchers specializing in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

    Beijing, China

    Changping Laboratory

  • New Positions open for the laser science center in Peking University

    The Beijing Laser Accelerator Innovation Center at Peking University invites applications for Applied Physics faculty.

    Beijing, China

    Peking University (PKU)

  • 10 PhD positions in Cutting-Edge Leukemia Research in 7 EU countries

    We are looking for 10 highly motivated PhD candidates to fill positions across 7 top European research centres/medical university hospitals.

    The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, United Kingdom

    MIRACLE - Leukemia

  • Postdoctoral Researcher

    The main focus of this position is the creation and evaluation of spintronics-based neuromorphic computing devices (e.g., physical reservoir comput...

    Tsukuba, Ibaraki (JP)

    National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links