Francis Collins: manning the helm with optimism.

F Sellers Collins, who was sworn in as the 16th Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Monday August 17, 2009, is well acquainted with big projects, big budgets, and big politics. He had previously served as director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) from 1993 to 2008, during which he oversaw the US publically financed arm of the Human Genome Project.1–4 Collins was already a world-renowned geneticist and master gene hunter when he was asked to lead the Human Genome Project. As a postdoctoral Fellow in Human Genetics at Yale University, he had developed a technique called chromosome jumping, which allowed gene hunters to jump over large sections of chromosomes to reach the location of disease genes.5 Later, at the University of Michigan, where he became Professor of Internal Medicine and Human Genetics, he used these and other tools to track down the genes for cystic fibrosis,6,7 Huntington disease,8 neurofibromatosis,9 and the M4 subtype of acute myeloid leukemia.10 He also helped identify numerous other disease genes and their mutations—work that continues at his laboratory at the NHGRI. The first rough draft of the human genome sequence was announced by Collins and J. Craig Venter on June 26, 2000, and just 3 years later, the final version was completed.3,4 The project had been finished ahead of schedule and under budget— words that should be music to any politician’s ear. As an unquestionably first-class scientist and leader, it was not surprising to many that Collins should be picked to head the NIH. Collins, who grew up on a farm in Virginia and was homeschooled until the 6th grade, has reached the loftiest possible heights of academia. However, at 60 years of age, Collins remains an ebullient optimist and told Circulation Research that he likes to think the best of his career is yet to come.