NIH director to hold lecture, discussion at UF on Monday
WHAT: Lecture/fireside chat by Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, followed by Q&A
WHEN: Monday, April 2, 10:30 to 11:15 a.m.
WHERE: Harrell Medical Education Building, North Learning Studio Room 125, on the University of Florida campus
WHO: In addition to Collins, other attendees will include U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho and UF President Kent Fuchs. Collins is delivering the speech at the invitation of Yoho. The discussion will be moderated by Dr. David Guzick, UF’s senior vice president for health affairs.
ADDITIONAL: Collins was appointed the 16th director of the National Institutes of Health by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate. He was sworn in on August 17, 2009. On June 6, 2017, President Donald Trump announced his selection of Collins to continue to serve as the NIH director. In this role, Collins oversees the work of the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world, spanning the spectrum from basic to clinical research.
Collins is a physician-geneticist noted for his landmark discoveries of disease genes and his leadership of the international Human Genome Project, which culminated in April 2003 with the completion of a finished sequence of the human DNA instruction book. He served as director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at NIH from 1993 to 2008.
Before coming to NIH, Collins was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at the University of Michigan. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2007 and received the National Medal of Science in 2009.
Yoho represents North Central Florida’s 3rd Congressional District. He was elected to the 113th Congress in November 2012 and won re-election for his third term in the 115th Congress. Prior to serving in Congress, he was a small-business owner who operated several large animal veterinary practices for 30 years. He graduated from UF with his bachelor’s degree in animal science and doctorate of veterinary medicine in 1983.
PARKING: A limited number of media parking spots will be available in the small lot on the east side of Newell Drive just north of the Harrell Medial Education Building. To reserve a parking spot, please RSVP by 5 p.m. Friday, March 30, to sfo@ufl.edu
CONTACTS:
UF -- Steve Orlando, sfo@ufl.edu, 352-846-3903
NIH -- Renate Myles, mylesr@mail.nih.gov, 301-435-3638; Emma Wojtowicz, emma.wojtowicz@nih.gov, 301-451-2183