Dr. Francis S. Collins This is Me

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1. 1. Biotechnology Heritage Award Past Recipients

   www.chemheritage.org/events/ev - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/18/2008   Last Visited: 5/18/2008

   Photo of Francis CollinsFrancis S. Collins.
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   Francis S. Collins and J. Craig Venter, 2001
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   Francis S. Collins and J. Craig Venter are honored for their key roles in the sequencing of the human genome.
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   In June 2000 the National Human Genome Research Institute and Celera Genomics, led by Collins and Venter, respectively, published the precise sequence of the four chemical bases of DNA along human chromosomes, marking a milestone for biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, and the pharmaceutical sciences.
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   Collins is the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute and chief of Genetic and Molecular Biology at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).In 1992, he assumed leadership of the Human Genome Project.Previously, Collins was professor of Internal Medicine and Human Genetics and chief of Medical Genetics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Medical School.

2. 2. Biotechnology Hall of Fame

   www.chemheritage.org/exhibits/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/18/2008   Last Visited: 5/18/2008

   Francis S. CollinsBiotechnology Hall of Fame
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   Francis S. Collins
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   Francis S. Collins, along with J. Craig Venter, received the 2001 Biotechnology Heritage Award.
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   In 1993 Collins became director of the National Center for Human Genome Research at the National Institute of Health (NIH), which in 1997 became the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI).Collins is also chief of genetic and molecular biology at NIH.
   
   With his position at NHGRI, Collins assumed leadership of the Human Genome Project (HGP), a complex multidisciplinary scientific enterprise directed at mapping and sequencing the entire set of human DNA and determining aspects of its function.The HGP is arguably the most significant scientific undertaking of our time, with the ultimate goal of improving human health.In June 2000 NHGRI, led by Collins and Celera Genomics, headed by Venter, published a working draft of the sequence of the human genome, marking a milestone for biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, and the pharmaceutical sciences.
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   After completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia, Collins earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Yale University in 1974 and an M.D. from the University of North Carolina in 1977.Following residencies in internal medicine at North Carolina Memorial Hospital, Collins completed a fellowship in human genetics at Yale's medical school from 1981 to 1984, developing an innovative technique for gene identification he later called positional cloning.The technique revolutionized gene hunting because it allowed the identification of disease genes for almost any genetic condition, without knowing ahead of time what the functional abnormality might be.
   
   Collins joined the faculty at the University of Michigan in 1984, eventually obtaining a professorship in internal medicine and human genetics, and he continued to use and develop positional cloning.In 1989 he and collaborators sucessfully found the long-sought gene responsible for cystic fibrosis.Other major discoveries followed, including isolation of the genes for Huntington's disease, neurofibromatosis, multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1, and the M4 type of adult acute leukemia and Hutchison-Gilford progeria syndrome.Collins moved to NIH in 1993.He is a member of the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences.His own research laboratory at NIH remains vigorous, exploring the molecular genetics of breast cancer, prostate cancer, adult-onset diabetes, and other disorders.

3. 3. Docrates

   www.docrates.net/QuickIntervie - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/14/2007   Last Visited: 4/14/2007

   Francis Collins, MD, Phd, Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH
   
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   Collins was raised on a small farm in Virginia and home-schooled until the sixth grade. He obtained his undergraduate degree in chemistry at the University of Virginia, and went on to obtain a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at Yale University. Recognizing that a revolution was beginning in molecular biology and genetics, he changed fields and enrolled in medical school at the University of North Carolina, where he encountered the field of medical genetics and knew he had found his dream. After a residency and chief residency in internal medicine in Chapel Hill, he returned to Yale for a fellowship in human genetics, where he worked on methods of crossing large stretches of DNA to identify disease genes. He continued to develop these ideas after joining the faculty at the University of Michigan in 1984. This approach, for which he later coined the term positional cloning, has developed into a powerful component of modern molecular genetics, as it allows the identification of disease genes for almost any condition, without knowing ahead of time what the functional abnormality might be.
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   That same year, Collins accepted an invitation to become the second director of the National Center for Human Genome Research, following in the footsteps of James Watson.
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   In that role, Collins has overseen the successful completion of several of the Genome Project's goals. In June of 2000, the completion of a "working draft" of the human genome sequence was announced, giving scientists allover the world free and unrestricted access to the vast majority of the instruction book for human biology.
   
   In addition, Collins founded a new NIH intramural research program in genome research, which has now grown to become one of the premier research units in human genetics in the country. His own research laboratory continues to be vigorously active, exploring the molecular genetics of breast cancer, prostate cancer, adult-onset diabetes, and other disorders. His accomplishments have been recognized by election to the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and numerous national and international awards.