NIHPhysician and geneticist Francis Collins, one of the leaders of the human genome sequencing project, has stepped down from his position as director of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), one of the largest and most important medical research centers in the world. After 12 years at the helm of the institution, which has an annual budget of around US$40 billion, Collins is expected to return to full-time work at his laboratory at the National Human Genome Research Institute, one of 27 that comprise the NIH, to study type 2 diabetes and progeria, a rare disease that causes premature aging. The US Department of Health, to which the NIH reports, announced in December that dentist and biochemist Lawrence Tabak, the NIH’s principal deputy director and former director the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, is taking over on an interim basis. The US government is currently analyzing candidates for the position, which must pass senate approval.
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