Saturday, December 3rd, 2011
| "It's a rare paper that gives you a chill of excitement. This was one of them." Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, USA talks about reading the first report of "induced pluripotent stem cells", a technique that has the potential to create stem cells from the patient's own cells |
Like a new captain for a sinking Titanic, Francis Collins came aboard NIH at a time when the world was drowning in the late-2000's recession. It was a challenging time for US biomedical research, and leading the National Institutes of Health is a tough job. "The Director deals with the Directors of each NIH Institute: Powerful scientists, strong-willed with their own strengths, priorities, biases and institutional limitations", explains NCBS's VijayRaghavan, "To conduct an orchestra of cats is never easy."
But Collins had the resume to make one believe he could turn things around. A physical chemist turned biologist, Collins has pioneered the development of some of the most significant techniques of molecular biology, such as chromosome jumping and positional cloning. Using these methods, Collins and his team helped to identify the key genes involved in cystic fibrosis. Later, he went on to shepherd the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium, and led the public side of the effort that first described the human genome in 2000.
Visiting India for the first time, Collins' talk at NCBS emphasised how NIH wants to build relationships with the growing Indian scientific community. More specifically, he also stressed that NIH wants to actively collaborate with the stem cell research centre at NCBS, and with institutes in other parts of the country. With over 250 active grants from the NIH, India is one of the countries most frequently funded. On Monday, Collins is heading to Delhi to sign a 'letter of intent' with M.K. Bhan, Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology.
