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Francis Collins to Step Down as NIH Director

posted by martyb on Tuesday October 05 2021, @04:46PM   
from the thanks-for-your-service dept.

takyon writes:

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.

His departure had been in the works for some time, one person familiar said. Officials from NIH, the Department of Health and Human Services and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Previously: NIH Won't Fund Human Germline Modification
Francis Collins Retains Position as Director of the National Institutes of Health
The Era of Biomedical Research on Chimpanzees in the United States is Effectively Over
2017: Gene Therapy's Milestone Year

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Original Submission

• Re:Is there some significance to this? Re:Is there some significance to this? (Score: 3, Insightful) by SunTzuWarmaster on Wednesday October 06 2021, @01:02PM (1 child)

  by SunTzuWarmaster (3971) on Wednesday October 06 2021, @01:02PM (#1184689)

  If he's been there three decades, 12 years at the helm under three presidents, and he's 71 years old -- I find it unsurprising that maybe he feels ready to do something else. He's done his part. Other than the length of his service, is there some other significance to this story?

  I mean, I don't disagree, but the NIH controls the second-largest federal research budget in the US (DoD and NSF being #1 and #3), and its director of 12 years has stepped down. That seems like a "news for nerds" story any way you slice it - "news" being defined as "an event happened" and "nerds" as "having an interest in the 2nd-largest research funding agency."

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• Re:Is there some significance to this? (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday October 06 2021, @02:13PM

  by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Wednesday October 06 2021, @02:13PM (#1184719) Homepage

  What you mean is "some of the money went to Wuhan", right?

  --
  Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves

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