On his first day as the 16th director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Francis Collins shared with the scientific community his vision for science in the coming years. In his message, Collins outlined five themes around which he plans to center his leadership and devote NIH resources during his administration.
The first “area of special opportunity” focuses on applying high-throughput (HTP) technologies to achieve more comprehensive research in basic science and translational studies. HTP technologies enable researchers to ask questions that have been too broad to address in the past, such as defining all of the protein interactions in a particular cell type. A key element in meeting this goal will be to ensure equal access to powerful databases for all research labs.
Influenced by his training as a physician, Collins chose translational science as his second theme. Emphasizing the need to develop diagnostic, preventative, and therapeutic methods based on basic research, he will expand the NIH's focus to include diseases that are less common and thereby tend to be neglected by most commercial pharmaceutical developers. To achieve this goal, Collins intends to recruit more academic investigators into the field of translational research and promote a public-private partnership model where data acquired by academic scientists may be used by larger companies for pharmaceutical development.
Francis Collins. Source: wikipedia.org
A third focus will be for the NIH to serve as a non-partisan source of data for evidence-based decisions required for healthcare reform. This goal encompasses research to compare the most effective therapies for treating a particular disease and a focus on personalized medicine and illness prevention.
Global health is the fourth theme that the NIH will address. Collins hopes to expand research efforts to include diseases endemic to developing nations and increase research collaboration with those countries to alter the world's view of the United States by emphasizing its role as a doctor rather than a soldier.
Collins’ final initiative seeks to “re-invigorate and empower the biomedical research community through stable and predictable funding increases [and] through high-quality training programs.” He stated that his biggest worry is the career stability of those investigators supported by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds distributed in Challenge and Grand Opportunity grants. He intends to plead the case for increased funding by demonstrating the long-term benefits of NIH research such as strengthening the economy, creating jobs, and most importantly, improving public health and reducing medical costs.
Collins concluded with a promise to focus all of his energy toward directing the scientific initiatives at the NIH, as well as encourage innovation, promote science as exciting and fun, and foster trust and openness as the NIH community comes together to pursue these ideals.
