SCIENCE science.org 14 JANUARY 2022 • VOL 375 ISSUE 6577 123EDITORIAL
H
aving just stepped down from serving three
presidents over 12 years as director of the US
National Institutes of Health (NIH), I am deeply
grateful for the opportunity to have led this no-
ble enterprise and to work with amazing people.
Astounding progress has been made on many
fronts, including advances that I never dreamed
that I would see in my lifetime—let alone during my
time as NIH director.
Who would have thought that understanding biology
at the single-cell level would move forward so rapidly?
Or that immunotherapy would emerge as an extremely
promising strategy for treating cancers? Few would
have predicted that gene editing would be possible in
nearly every lab, paving the way for cures of disorders
like sickle cell disease. Even more difficult to foresee
was the worst global pandemic in
more than a century, COVID-19, fol-
lowed by the unprecedented achieve-
ment of using a new messenger RNA
platform to develop vaccines to com-
bat it in less than a year.
Thanks to an engaged US Congress,
NIH has experienced a remarkable
period of budget growth since 2016,
which has made it more feasible to
initiate new projects. Yet questions
remain about whether this supportive
trajectory can be sustained. Equally
concerning is a hyperpartisan and
divisive atmosphere that has taken
a toll on the credibility of science.
Objective truth is under attack. For
COVID-19, this has taken the form
of unsubstantiated claims about the
origins of the disease-causing coronavirus, rejection of
evidence-based information on prevention with masks
and vaccines, and embrace of highly questionable, po-
tentially harmful “treatments.”
What have I learned during my time at this agency’s
helm? With the aim of making life easier for NIH’s next
director, there are several lessons that rise to the top.
Hypothesis-driven research is the bedrock of NIH’s suc-
cess. Thus, one should prioritize support of risk-taking
research and pay less attention to preliminary data and
more to the potential importance of a premise. Also, it is
key to survey the biomedical landscape for areas poised
for bold advances and then zero in on those exceptional
opportunities. During my directorship, teams were or-
ganized to pursue such opportunities, including the Na-
tional Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, the“All of Us” Research Program, the Human Health and He-
redity in Africa program, The Cancer Moonshot, and the
Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neuro-
technologies Initiative. I found that nimbleness matters.
NIH has not always been known for rapid responsive-
ness, but in recent years has learned to move more nim-
bly in times of urgent need. Public-private partnerships
enable research to proceed much faster, as evidenced by
NIH’s Accelerating Medicines Partnership, and the Ac-
celerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vac-
cines and Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiatives.
Establishment of an Advanced Research Projects Agency
for Health within NIH would serve powerfully to main-
tain this momentum. It is also crucial to remember that
NIH serves the people. Consequently, it is essential to cul-
tivate relationships with a broad cross-section of society,
including Congress, patient groups,
and colleagues in all sectors. And it is
vital that the agency play a strong role
in encouraging the next generation of
researchers. Aspiring researchers are
biomedical science’s most important
resource, and every effort should be
made to provide them with welcom-
ing “on ramps” to productive careers.
At the heart of such encouragement
is recognizing the value of diversity.
NIH has made progress in this area
through efforts like UNITE and the
Faculty Institutional Recruitment for
Sustainable Transformation, but long-
term commitment is needed to achieve
sustained diversity and equity.
Biomedical research faces many
challenges, but I am confident that the
next NIH director will meet them. COVID-19 has unques-
tionably been a harsh challenge, and the global impor-
tance of investing in biomedical research has never been
clearer. I leave NIH in the hands of a highly capable act-
ing director and a remarkable group of institute and cen-
ter directors, most of whom I am proud to say I recruited.
I am fundamentally a person filled with hope. Indeed,
the very reason that NIH exists is to offer hope to those
seeking answers to the mysteries of life and solutions to
illnesses that cause so much suffering and premature
death. I am honored to have played a role in providing
such hope for the last 12 years and look forward to sup-
porting those who will succeed me in pursuing NIH’s
never-ending quest to turn biomedical discoveries into
better health for all humankind.
–Francis S. CollinsLessons learned from leading NIH
Francis S. Collins
was director of the
US National Institutes
of Health, Bethesda,
MD, USA, from 2009
to 2021. francis.collins
@nih.govPublished online 6 January 2022 10.1126/science.abn“...NIH exists
...to offer
hope...and
solutions to
illnesses that
cause so much
suffering...”
PHOTO: NIH