U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced that Francis Collins, MD, PhD, will step down as Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Dec. 19. Lawrence Tabak, DDS, PhD, Principal Deputy Director of NIH, will serve as Acting Director, and Tara Schwetz, PhD, will serve as Principal Deputy Director.
Dr. Collins is the longest serving presidentially appointed NIH director, having served three U.S. presidents spanning more than 12 years. He plans to return to his research lab at the National Human Genome Research Institute.