• Posted March 3, 2025

Longtime NIH Leader Francis Collins Retires

Dr. Francis Collins, the famed geneticist who led the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for 12 years and helped guide the U.S. through the COVID pandemic, has stepped down.

Collins, who's 74, announced his retirement over the weekend, praising the NIH staff in a parting statement while offering what appeared to be a message to the Trump administration, which has fired hundreds of NIH workers. 

“As I depart N.I.H., 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,” Collins wrote. “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 joined the NIH in 1993 and became famous for leading the Human Genome Project, a groundbreaking effort to map all human genes.

He served under three presidents, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and was recognized for his work during the pandemic when he helped steer development of COVID vaccines, tests and treatments, The New York Times reported.

Collins did not give a reason for his retirement and he said in a text message that he “was not doing any interviews.”

His decision comes just days before Wednesday's scheduled Senate confirmation hearing for Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, President Trump’s nominee to be the next NIH director. Bhattacharya and Collins have been critical of each other.

Bhattacharya is a co-author of an anti-lockdown paper called the Great Barrington Declaration, which was signed at the height of the COVID pandemic. In emails that eventually became public, Collins had referred to its authors as "fringe epidemiologists."

Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, praised his former colleague, saying Collins has had an ”extraordinarily positive impact” on biomedical research, The Times reported.

But Trump allies and supporters of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. welcomed Collins’ retirement.

“Francis Collins was an ineffectual leader who bent at the knee to Tony Fauci and openly mocked President Trump,” Katie Miller, who was Kennedy’s spokeswoman before Trump appointed her to the Department of Government Efficiency, wrote on social media. “@DrJBhattacharya is the right leader to move @NIH forward.”

In his farewell statement, Collins highlighted NIH’s impact on today's medicine.

“N.I.H. is the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world,” Collins wrote. “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.”

He continued: “When you hear about patients surviving stage 4 cancer because of immunotherapy, that was based on N.I.H. research over many decades. When you hear about sickle-cell disease being cured because of CRISPR gene editing, that was built on many years of research supported by N.I.H.”

He also stressed the importance of bipartisan support for medical research.

“Investment in medical research was seen as a high priority and a nonpolitical bipartisan effort -- saving countless lives, relieving human suffering and contributing substantially to the U.S. economy,” Collins wrote.

His retirement follows the recent exit of Dr. Lawrence Tabak, NIH’s longtime deputy director, who stepped down after being offered a reassignment that he considered unacceptable, according to sources familiar with the issue.

Collins leaves a legacy as a scientist and leader who tried to connect science and his faith throughout his career.

His 2006 book, "The Language of God," explored the relationship between science and Christianity, and in the wake of COVID-era controversies, Collins joined Braver Angels, a group working to bridge political divides in the U.S.

More information

Learn more about the work done at the National Human Genome Research Institute.

SOURCE: The New York Times, March 1, 2025