NIH director Francis S. Collins to step down by end of year

WASHINGTON (AP) — The director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis S. Collins, says he’s stepping down by the end of the year. Collins has led the research center for 12 years and has become a familiar face in the news media during the coronavirus pandemic. The 71-year-old physician-geneticist tells The Washington Post an institution like the NIH benefits from new vision and leadership. President Barack Obama selected Collins as director in 2009, and Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden asked him to remain in the job. The NIH is the nation’s medical research agency and operates more than two dozen institutes and centers. It’s based in Bethesda, Maryland.