NIH Director Collins may stay in Trump administration

Republicans on congressional committees which oversee the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are encouraging President-elect Donald Trump to retain the agency’s current director, Francis Collins, MD, PhD.

In a letter sent to Trump Dec. 2, the idea of keeping Collins was endorsed by four key Republicans: outgoing House and Energy Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Michigan, Senate health committee chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, and the two lawmakers who run the appropriations committees which approve NIH’s budget: U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, and U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma.

“As the Director for the past seven years, his distinguished scientific experience, effective leadership skills and long standing relationships with members of Congress, researchers and advocates will serve the nation and your administration well,” the letter said.

Collins has been in charge of NIH since Aug. 2009, spearheading efforts like the Precision Medicine Initiative and the cancer “moonshot.” The agency also received an additional $2 billion in funding in the last federal budget. During Collins’ visit to Northwestern University in September, Blunt and Cole were mentioned as important allies in getting that funding approved.

What Trump intends to do with NIH is a mystery. His only comment on the agency during the campaign was to say, “I hear so much about the NIH, and it's terrible,” while telling conservative talk show host Michael Savage he may be considered for the job.

A serious contender could be Rep. Andy Harris, MD, R-Maryland, an anesthesiologist who openly expressed interest in the job in an interview in Science.

“I have conducted both clinical research and basic science research. And I have the background in the political arena to understand how funding occurs, how policies can change in new directions, and how reform can be accomplished,” said Harris.

According to Science, Harris worked on NIH-funded research when he served on the faculty at John Hopkins University. His most notable effort on research advocacy came as a state lawmaker, when he opposed Maryland’s effort to create a stem cell research fund.

Retaining Collins would be a shift from Trump’s other healthcare appointments at HHS and CMS, which present significant departures in policy from appointees of President Barack Obama. There is some precedent for the head of NIH staying on when another party takes over the executive branch, such as former directors Donald Fredrickson, MD, who served under Presidents Ford and Carter, or James Shannon, MD, who was in the role for 13 years under Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson.