Francis S. Collins, MD, Ph.D, is a physician-scientist and one of the best-known scientists of the current era. His own research has led to the discovery of the cause of cystic fibrosis and several other genetic disorders. He continues to lead an active research group at the National Institutes of Health focused on diabetes and progeria, a rare form of premature aging. He is also currently leading a national initiative to eliminate the viral disease hepatitis C.
Dr. Collins served as Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden. In that role, he guided the nation’s biomedical research in everything from basic science to clinical trials, including a historic series of research partnerships addressing diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, neuroscience, precision medicine, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to that, he served as Director of the International Human Genome Project, coordinating a consortium of laboratories in six countries to produce the first-ever complete sequence of the human DNA instruction book in 2003. His contributions to science have been recognized by election to the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and the awarding of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Science.
Dr. Collins became a Christian at age 27. His best seller The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief (2006) made the case for the rationality of faith and its complementarity to science. He followed that up by founding BioLogos, which has become the leading organization for discussions of the possible harmony of rigorous science and serious Christian faith. In 2020, he received the Templeton Prize, which celebrates scientific and spiritual curiosity.
Dr. Collins received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Virginia, a doctorate in physical chemistry from Yale University, and a medical degree from The University of North Carolina. He lives with his wife Diane Baker in Chevy Chase, MD.
