Managing and Overseeing Research at NIH

Dr. Collins oversees the work of the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world, spanning the spectrum from basic to clinical research. Francis S.

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. is the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In that role he oversees the work of the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world, spanning the spectrum from basic to clinical research.

Dr. Collins is a physician-geneticist noted for his landmark discoveries of disease genes and his leadership of the international Human Genome Project, which culminated in April 2003 with the completion of a finished sequence of the human DNA instruction book. He served as director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the NIH from 1993-2008.

Before coming to the NIH, Dr. Collins was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at the University of Michigan. He is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2007, and received the National Medal of Science in 2009.

Copyright © 2025 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Graphic By: Derace Lauderdale/FNN

    Trump revives executive order aiming to strip some federal employees of civil service protections

    Read more
    (Getty Images/iStockphoto/Jirsak)Federal Hiring

    Hiring reform, SES accountability to get more scrutiny

    Read more
    Amelia Brust/Federal News NetworkFederal Workforce

    Trump administration asks agencies for lists of newly hired federal employees

    Read more