NIH Director Collins Will Resign At End Of Year: Reports
The National Institutes of Health is expected to announce that its longest-serving director will soon step down, Politico first reported. Francis Collins has run the agency since 2009 when he was nominated by then-President Barack Obama. No interim director has been named yet, an agency official told The Washington Post.
Politico:
Francis Collins To Step Down As NIH Director
National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins plans to announce his resignation on Tuesday after nearly three decades at the agency, including 12 years at the helm, three sources tell POLITICO. The 71-year-old physician-geneticist led the agency under three consecutive presidents — making him the first presidentially appointed NIH director to serve in more than one administration and the longest-serving NIH director. (Wilson, Owermohle and Banco, 10/4)
The Washington Post:
NIH Director Francis S. Collins Will Step Down By Year’s End
After more than 12 years directing the nation’s premier biomedical research center, Collins, a 71-year-old physician-geneticist, will return to his lab at the National Human Genome Research Institute, part of NIH. He is the longest-tenured director of the Bethesda, Md.,-based NIH, which he ran through the Obama and Trump administrations and into the first year of the Biden presidency. No decision has been made on an interim director, an NIH official said. In the midst of the pandemic, President Biden will nominate a new director who must be confirmed by the evenly divided Senate. (Bernstein and Johnson, 10/4)
Stat:
NIH Director Francis Collins To Step Down
During Collins’ tenure at NIH, the agency’s budget grew by nearly a third and largely staved off major controversies. An evangelical Christian with a medical degree and Ph.D. in physical chemistry, Collins, 71, is among the most revered political figures in Washington — so much so that President Trump and President Biden, upon their elections, each chose to reappoint him to lead the agency. (Facher, 10/4)
