| 1 | Name: | Dr. Francis Sellers Collins | |
| Institution: | President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology; National Human Genome Research Institute | ||
| Year Elected: | 2022 | ||
| Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 207. Genetics | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1950 | ||
Francis Sellers Collins is the Former Director of the National Institutes of Health. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1974 and his M.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in 1977. Other work experiences include being a Professor at the University of Michigan and head of the National Human Genome Research Institute from 1993-2008. Francis Collins pioneered the fundamental strategy of ‘positional cloning,' leading to the successful identification of numerous disease genes. Using this approach, his laboratory identified the cystic fibrosis gene in 1989 and later the genes responsible for neurofibromatosis, Huntington disease, the M4Eo subtype of acute myeloid leukemia, multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1, Alagille syndrome, and Hutchinson-Gilford progeria. Collins' lab has also made major contributions toward deciphering the molecular basis of genetically complex diseases, particularly type 2 diabetes. At the National Institutes of Health, Collins was a key world leader in biomedicine. He was a central organizing figure in the human genome project, laying the groundwork for modern clinical and basic genetics research, and in many ways defining how to perform ‘large-scale science' in biomedical research. In this role, he has distinguished himself as a scientist, manager, advocate, arbiter, and voice for responsible science. Collins was awarded the Gairdner Foundation International Award in 1990, the Dickson Prize from the University of Pittsburgh in 1991, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007, the Philip Hauge Abelson Awardand the National Medal of Science in 2009, and the Templeton Prize in 2020, among others. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and the Royal Society, 2020. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2022. | |||