Christian apologist and globally renowned U.S. physician-geneticist Francis Collins has announced his retirement from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which he led as director for 12 years before returning to laboratory work.
Collins, 74, served as the 16th NIH director from Aug. 17, 2009, until Dec. 19, 2021, before stepping down to work in a laboratory at the National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the NIH.
The eminent scientist, who is also the founder of the faith and science think tank BioLogos, announced his retirement plan from his NIH day job on Saturday (March 1) after informing Acting Director Matt Memoli, M.D., the day before.
“Millions of people will never know Dr. Collins saved their lives,” former U.S. President Joe Biden said in 2021 after Collins stepped down as NIH director. “Countless researchers will aspire to follow in his footsteps. And I will miss the counsel, expertise, and good humor of a brilliant mind and dear friend.”
The NIH is currently subject to budget cuts under President Donald Trump’s executive orders, though Collins did not directly mention this in his retirement announcement. He gave no reason for his retirement and declined media interviews. Last year, Collins battled aggressive prostate cancer, but he did not indicate whether his health was a factor in his decision to retire.
On LinkedIn, Mario Ruiz Pérez, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, published Collins’ “goodbye letter to the NIH” in full, adding the comment: “Hard times for science ahead.”
Collins’ statement listed the achievements of both the NIH and his own successes during his tenure.
“I have loved being employed by this extraordinary life-giving institution for 32 years,” Collins wrote, adding that his determination to seek the common good of his fellow humans would not diminish in his retirement. “I will continue to devote my life in other ways to seeking knowledge and enhancing health, to healing disease and reducing suffering, and to do what I can to bring together our fractured communities around the shared values of love, truth, goodness, and faith.”
Collins also paid tribute to his colleagues at the NIH with whom he has worked for decades.
“As I depart NIH, I want to express my gratitude and love for the men and women with whom I have worked side by side for so many years. They are individuals of extraordinary intellect and integrity, selfless and hard-working, generous and compassionate. They personify excellence in every way, and they deserve the utmost respect and support of all Americans.”
Collins praised the NIH as the “crown jewel of the federal government for decades” and the “world’s foremost medical research institution.”
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to be part of this institution in various roles over the last four decades,” he added.
Collins recounted how the NIH supported his work at the University of Michigan in the 1980s via a peer-reviewed grant, allowing him, with the support of colleagues, to identify the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis.
“Thirty years later, that has led to an almost miraculous treatment that allows most kids with cystic fibrosis to look forward to an almost normal life span,” he said.
Collins recalled being recruited to the NIH in 1993 to lead the Human Genome Project, funded by Congress, which was completed two years ahead of schedule and $400 million under budget—“an extraordinarily bold initiative to read out the three billion letters of the human DNA instruction book.”
“The success of the project, and the commitment to share all of the data rapidly and freely, has revolutionized every aspect of human biomedical research and medical practice,” Collins said.
The success of this research led to Collins being asked to serve as NIH director, where he advised three U.S. presidents: Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden. He said he loved “those interactions and relationships,” including regularly working with members of Congress.
“Throughout the time, investment in medical research was seen as a high priority and a non-political bipartisan effort—saving countless lives, relieving human suffering, and contributing substantially to the U.S. economy,” Collins said.
“That consistent support made possible bold new projects in regenerative medicine, brain science, precision health, cancer, and solutions for opioid addiction, to name just a few.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Collins, in his role as NIH director, helped coordinate public and private healthcare partnerships, leading to a COVID-19 vaccine in just 11 months—“a staggering medical achievement that saved over three million lives in the U.S. alone.”
As acting science advisor in the White House, Collins organized an initiative to eliminate hepatitis C in the U.S. before overseeing a research program at the National Human Genome Research Institute in 2023 on the causes and prevention of Type 2 diabetes and gene therapy for a rare premature aging disorder called progeria.
“NIH is the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world,” Collins concluded. “It is the main piston of a biomedical discovery engine that is the envy of the globe. Yet it is not a household name. It should be.
“NIH supports everything from basic science to clinical trials, providing the foundation of many breakthroughs. When you hear about patients surviving Stage 4 cancer because of immunotherapy, that is based on NIH research over many decades.
“When you hear about sickle cell disease being cured because of CRISPR [Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats] gene editing, that was built on many years of research supported by NIH.
“It has also been the largest supporter of global health research in the world, winning us many friends and colleagues from across the globe.”
Collins has previously been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Templeton Prize, and the National Medal of Science.
