[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 213 (Thursday, December 9, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S9091]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO DR. FRANCIS COLLINS

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today to ask the Senate to join me 
in recognizing the incredible career of Dr. Francis Collins, Director 
of the National Institutes of Health, as he prepares to step down as 
Director and return to his research laboratory at the National Human 
Genome Research Institute, NHGRI.
  NIH is the crown jewel of our Nation's and the world's biomedical 
infrastructure. The Institute touches all of our lives through its 
research, which deepens our understanding of the natural world and 
produces groundbreaking medicines and lifesaving treatments for 
diseases. Like all Marylanders, I am proud that NIH is headquartered in 
Bethesda and has several satellite campuses throughout the State.
  Dr. Collins' career with NIH has spanned more than three decades. A 
physician-geneticist, Dr. Collins served as the director of the 
National Human Genome Research Institute from 1993 to 2008. In this 
work, he led the Human Genome Project, which in April 2003 completed 
sequencing the human DNA instruction book. The sequencing of the 3 
billion DNA letters that make up the human genetic ``instruction book'' 
has been instrumental in uncovering the role that the genome plays in 
human health and disease and marshalling in a new era of medicine. For 
this work, Dr. Collins deservedly received the Presidential Medal of 
Freedom in 2007.
  Dr. Collins is the longest serving, Presidentially appointed NIH 
Director, having served as the 16th Director of NIH under three U.S. 
Presidents over more than 12 years. Building on his groundbreaking 
research in genetics, Dr. Collins has led the Institutes in the effort 
to develop a greater understanding of medicine and pursue innovations 
in diagnoses and treatments.
  This includes the ``All of Us'' program, which is a precision 
medicine initiative that in 2018 began gathering the health data of 1 
million participants to develop individualized healthcare that enables 
us to better treat and prevent disease. Dr. Collins' leadership has 
similarly led to incredible advancements in understanding neurological 
conditions. The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative 
Neurotechnologies--BRAIN--Initiative aims to develop revolutionary 
pictures of the brain to enable researchers to find new ways to treat, 
cure, and even prevent neurological disorders that affect millions of 
Americans.
  Dr. Collins' tenure has included leading the fight to eradicate 
cancer under the Cancer Moonshot Initiative. This generational effort 
aims to improve our ability to prevent cancer or detect it at an 
earlier stage and develop more effective therapies to treat it. To 
date, over $1 billion in Moonshot funding has made incredible progress 
through support of over 240 research projects across more than 70 
cancer initiatives.
  Last but certainly not least, Dr. Collins' leadership as NIH Director 
has witnessed one of the toughest and most challenging tests for the 
Institutes: the COVID-19 pandemic. Through Dr. Collins' commitment to 
adhering to the science and steadfast leadership, the NIH has played an 
historic role in shepherding the development of vaccines, therapeutics, 
diagnostics, and all manner of medical resources toward COVID-19 
response efforts. Though the Omicron variant is troubling and the 
pandemic rages in many parts of the world, we are better prepared to 
respond and persevere against the COVID-19 pandemic because Dr. Collins 
played a principal role in leading our national biomedical response 
efforts.
  Dr. Collins is not just a scientist. He is also an avid guitarist and 
motorcyclist. And his book, ``The Language of God: A Scientist Presents 
Evidence for Belief'', is one of the most intellectually rigorous and 
compelling efforts to reconcile the worlds of science and faith.
  I ask the Senate, my fellow Marylanders, and a grateful Nation to 
join me in recognizing the career of an extraordinary physician-
geneticist, Dr. Francis Collins. We are incredibly grateful for his 
leadership and stewardship of NIH and wish him a happy and well-
deserved return to his research laboratory.

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