November 28, 2011

Francis S. Collins

Calling the NIAMS' 25th anniversary "a chance to reflect on where we have come from," as well as an opportunity "to think about the future," Dr. Francis Collins praises the Institute's leadership for anticipating scientific opportunities, for strong corporate citizenship within the NIH, for tackling diseases that are "common and chronic and costly and crippling," and for supporting "a portfolio of research that has made a real difference in the health of the nation and the health of the world." Collins describes the NIAMS as consistently making strides in treatment development and understanding the immunology and genetics of its mission areas, from funding the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures in the mid-1980s to supporting research that recently led to the first FDA-indicated treatment for lupus in more than 50 years. Explaining one of the reasons he is excited about plans for the NIH's proposed National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Collins says, "We have the chance to focus even more intentionally now on taking the deluge of basic science discoveries pouring out of laboratories across all of the diseases that are in the NIAMS' portfolio and making sure that we apply those as quickly as possible in the translational arena."