Background
Francis Sellers Collins was born on April 14, 1950, in Staunton, Virginia, United States, the youngest of four sons of Fletcher Collins and Margaret James Collins.
Charlottesville, VA, United States
Collins received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Virginia in 1970.
Chapel Hill, NC, United States
In 1977, Collins earned a Doctor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
New Haven, CT 06520, United States
Collins went on to Yale University to earn a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy (1974).
Francis Collins
Francis Collins
Francis Collins
Francis Collins
Francis Collins
Francis Collins
Francis Collins
Francis Collins
Francis Collins
National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins speaks during a Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on new coronavirus tests on Capitol Hill May 7, 2020, in Washington DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik - Pool)
Francis Collins
(It has long been believed that science and faith cannot m...)
It has long been believed that science and faith cannot mingle. Faith rejects the rational, while science restricts us to a life with no meaning beyond the physical. It is an irreconcilable war between two polar-opposite ways of thinking and living. Written for believers, agnostics, and atheists alike, The Language of God provides a testament to the power of faith in the midst of suffering without faltering from its logical stride. Readers will be inspired by Collin’s personal story of struggling with doubt, as well as the many revelations of the wonder of God’s creation that will forever shape the way they view the world around them.
https://www.amazon.com/Language-God-Scientist-Presents-Evidence/dp/1416542744/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Francis+Collins&qid=1594802032&sr=8-1
2006
(A scientific and medical revolution has crept up on us. T...)
A scientific and medical revolution has crept up on us. Twenty-one million Americans are affected by 6,000 so-called rare and orphan diseases, many of which are primarily attributable to misspelled genes. And virtually all diseases have a significant hereditary component. Diabetes, heart disease, the common cancers, mental illness, asthma, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, and more are having their secrets unlocked through DNA. Families that faced common problems, without hope, are now discovering a new world of understanding, treatment, and prevention. You owe it to yourself to learn about your DNA: how it works, what it reveals, and the benefits and limits of this new knowledge.
https://www.amazon.com/Language-Life-Revolution-Personalized-Medicine/dp/0061733180/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=Francis+Collins&qid=1594802032&sr=8-4
2010
(From Dr. Francis Collins, New York Times bestselling auth...)
From Dr. Francis Collins, New York Times bestselling author of The Language of God, comes the definitive reader on the rationality of faith.
https://www.amazon.com/Belief-Readings-Francis-S-Collins-ebook/dp/B0038B99NM/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Francis+Collins&qid=1594802032&sr=8-3
2010
(Christians affirm that everything exists because of God -...)
Christians affirm that everything exists because of God - from subatomic quarks to black holes. Science often claims to explain nature without including God at all. And thinking Christians often feel forced to choose between the two. But the good news is that we don't have to make a choice. Science does not overthrow the Bible. Faith does not require rejecting science. World-renowned scientist Francis Collins, author of The Language of God, along with fellow scientist Karl Giberson shows how we can embrace both. Their fascinating treatment explains how God cares for and interacts with his creation while science offers a reliable way to understand the world he made. Together they clearly answer dozens of the most common questions people ask about Darwin, evolution, the age of the earth, the Bible, the existence of God, and our finely tuned universe. They also consider how their views stack up against the new atheists as well as against creationists and adherents of intelligent design. The authors disentangle the false conclusions of Christians and atheists alike about science and evolution from the actual results of research in astronomy, physics, geology, and genetics. In its place, they find a story of the grandeur and beauty of a world made by a supremely creative God.
https://www.amazon.com/Language-Science-Faith-Straight-Questions/dp/0830838295/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Francis+Collins&qid=1594802032&sr=8-2
2011
Francis Sellers Collins was born on April 14, 1950, in Staunton, Virginia, United States, the youngest of four sons of Fletcher Collins and Margaret James Collins.
Homeschooled by his mother for much of his childhood, Collins took an early interest in science. He received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Virginia (1970), went on to Yale University to earn a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy (1974), and earned a Doctor of Medicine (1977) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
After completing his residency in internal medicine in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, he returned to Yale for a fellowship in human genetics. He later joined the faculty of the University of Michigan and swiftly moved through the academic ranks. At Yale and Michigan, he developed methods to cross large strands of DNA to identify abnormal genes. This approach, which he called "positional cloning," allows the identification of the genes responsible for many disorders.
Together with Lap-Chee Tsui and Jack Riordan of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, his research team identified the gene for cystic fibrosis in 1989. That was followed by his group's identification of the neurofibromatosis gene in 1990, and in 1993, "after the longest and most frustrating search in the annals of molecular biology," Collins and his fellow genetic researchers located the defective gene that causes Huntington's disease. Huntington's disease is an incurable hereditary brain disorder that results in the death of brain cells.
Collins accepted an invitation in 1993 to succeed James Watson as director of the National Center for Human Genome Research at the National Institutes of Health. In this role, Collins oversaw a 15-year multibillion-dollar effort to locate and map every gene in human DNA by the year 2005. Many consider this the most important undertaking in the history of science. Collins kept the project ahead of schedule and under budget. In June 2000, the Center had achieved a first rough draft of the human genome. By April 2003, Collins could announce the completion of the entire human genome sequence. As we learn the precise function of every gene, new discoveries yield incalculable benefits in the fight against birth defects and hereditary disease.
Francis Collins has written a number of books on science, medicine, and religion, including the New York Times bestseller The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief. In the book, he advocates theistic evolution. He raises arguments for the idea of God from biology, astrophysics, psychology, and other disciplines. Collins cites many famous thinkers, most particularly, C.S. Lewis, as well as Saint Augustine, Stephen Hawking, and Charles Darwin. In The Language of God, Collins recounts how he accepted Christ as his Savior in 1978 and has been a devout Christian ever since. "The God of the Bible is also the God of the genome," Collins writes. "He can be worshipped in the cathedral and in the laboratory." Francis Collins is also the founder of the BioLogos Foundation, a group that fosters discussions about the intersection of Christianity and science.
In 2007, Collins was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. The award citation read, in part, "This monumental advance in scientific knowledge has begun to unlock some of the great mysteries of human life and has created the potential to develop treatments and cures for some of the most serious diseases. The United States honors Francis Collins for his efforts to decode human DNA and improve human health." In August 2008, Collins stepped down, after 15 years as Director of the National Center for Human Genome Research. A little less than a year later, President Barack Obama chose him to serve as director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). A part of the Department of Health and Human Services, NIH is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research. As director of NIH, Francis Collins is responsible for 27 separate institutes and research centers, providing leadership and financial support to researchers in every state and throughout the world.
The National Institutes of Health, based in Bethesda, Maryland, has an annual budget of more than $30 billion for medical research. The NIH supports a wide range of scientists, including 300,000 researchers at more than 2,500 universities across the globe. The NIH is the largest public funder of clinical trials in the United States, annually providing $3 billion. Clinical trials are the component of biomedical research most directly connected to changes in medical practice, ranging from the potential human application of innovative laboratory findings to the treatments and preventive interventions in clinical care. The NIH has launched a multifaceted effort to improve the quality and efficiency of clinical trials. In 2015 - under the leadership of Francis Collins - the NIH initiated a plan to study the DNA and medical histories of one million American volunteers. Dr. Collins said the Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort Program, now named All Of Us, "has the potential to truly transform the practice of medicine" and predicted that understanding individual differences will allow doctors to better prevent and treat illness. This landmark initiative will help pinpoint links between environmental exposure, lifestyle, genetic variation, and disease so that doctors can use all of this information, including individual genome sequences, to prescribe custom treatments for cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
In 2020, Doctor Collins was awarded the Templeton Prize, presented annually to an individual whose achievements advance the philanthropic vision of Sir John Templeton: "harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest questions of the universe and humankind's place and purpose within it." In making the award, valued at £1.1 million (roughly $1,353,000), the John Templeton Foundation noted that Collins, "…throughout his career has advocated for the integration of faith and reason." Citing his book, The Language of God, it said, "Collins has demonstrated how religious faith can motivate and inspire rigorous scientific research."
(Christians affirm that everything exists because of God -...)
2011(It has long been believed that science and faith cannot m...)
2006(A scientific and medical revolution has crept up on us. T...)
2010(From Dr. Francis Collins, New York Times bestselling auth...)
2010By graduate school, Collins considered himself an atheist but became a Christian at age 27.
Christopher Hitchens referred to Collins as "one of the greatest living Americans" and stated that Collins was one of the most devout believers he had ever met.
Collins actively cautioned against the misuse of genetic information. At congressional hearings in July 2000, Collins urged the passage of federal law to set guidelines on how individuals' genetic information could be handled. "The potential for mischief is quite great," he said.
Francis Collins has some startling ideas on abortion. From a 1993 New York Times profile of Collins: "It is difficult to say you can't abort, but for overall cultural mores, you run into problems," Dr. Collins said. "It's the classic slippery slope. You have a gray scale going from diseases like Tay-Sachs disease that cause death in early childhood all the way to the other end of the spectrum with abortions for sex selection, which most people would say is a misuse of technology. In between is a gray zone. Where do you draw the line?"
In a 1998 book he co-authored, Principles of Medical Genetics, he considers a bioethical situation where a genetic counselor is discussing with a (married) mother, 8 weeks pregnant, whether to abort her child because there's a 7 to 8 percent chance the child will have a mild learning disability. Should the mother indicate an interest in aborting, Collins and his two co-authors commend to the counselor a stance of "respect for [patient] autonomy" and "nondirective counseling." In other words, the medical professional in this context should be morally neutral.
In an appendix to his bestselling The Language of God (2006), he questions "the insistence that the spiritual nature of a person is uniquely defined at the very moment of conception." He also defends "therapeutic" human cloning in these terms:
"I would argue that the immediate product of a skin cell and an enucleated egg cell fall short of the moral status of the union of sperm and egg. The former is not part of God's plan to create a human individual. The latter is very much God’s plan, carried out through the millennia by our own species and many others."
Francis Collins is married to Diane Baker.