biomedical research
Reflecting on Two Years of Discovery and Looking Ahead to New NIH Leadership
Posted on by Lawrence Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D.

As I transition from my role as the Acting NIH Director, I’d like to thank you, the readers, for visiting the NIH Director’s Blog ever since I took the helm 22 months ago. From Long COVID to the opioid overdose epidemic to Alzheimer’s disease—we’ve covered a range of diseases and conditions, scientific advances, and programs. You were able to read about such a broad spectrum of science thanks in large part to the many Institute Directors at NIH who authored guest posts. I hope the blog has helped you learn more about what NIH does and the many ways that biomedical research impacts human health.
A key focus of my career as both a scientific investigator and administrative leader has been supporting trainees and finding new ways to cultivate and expand the next generation of researchers. In my many discussions with young investigators, I’ve often reminded them that they should not be afraid to fail. To the students and early-stage scientists who have visited this site: I hope these stories of discovery—often the result of earlier failures—have provided some insight and inspiration as you move through your scientific career or consider starting one.
I’d also like to thank the many people—employees, government and private partners, patients, scientists, advocates, and other members of the public—who have reached out with messages of support, and sometimes with messages of criticism. Both have helped inform the decisions I needed to make to fulfill the NIH mission.
In closing, I congratulate Dr. Monica Bertagnolli as she takes the helm as the next permanent NIH director. Dr. Bertagnolli—an outstanding physician scientist—is a strong leader who will bring fresh, bold new ideas to NIH and the biomedical research enterprise. I know she’ll be in good hands thanks to the outstanding staff across NIH and the leadership in the Department of Health and Human Services. I look forward to supporting her efforts and continuing to ensure that NIH research optimizes health for all people.
Gratitude for Biomedical Progress and All Those Who Make It Possible
Posted on by Lawrence Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D.

It’s good for our health to eat right, exercise, and get plenty of rest. Still, many other things contribute to our sense of wellbeing, including making it a point to practice gratitude whenever we can. With this in mind, I can’t think of a better time than Thanksgiving to recognize just a few of the many reasons that I—and everyone who believes in the mission of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—have to be grateful.
First, I’m thankful for the many enormously talented people with whom I’ve worked over the past year while performing the duties of the NIH Director. Particular thanks go to those on my immediate team within the Office of the Director. I could not have taken on this challenge without their dedicated support.
I’m also gratified by the continued enthusiasm and support for biomedical research from so many different corners of our society. This includes the many thousands of unsung, patient partners who put their time, effort, and, in some cases, even their lives on the line for the sake of medical progress and promising treatment advances. Without them, clinical research—including the most pivotal clinical trials—simply wouldn’t be possible.
I am most appreciative of the continuing efforts at NIH and across the broader biomedical community to further enable diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility within the biomedical research workforce and in all the work that NIH supports.
High on my Thanksgiving list is the widespread availability of COVID-19 bivalent booster shots. These boosters not only guard against older strains of the coronavirus, but also broaden immunity to the newer Omicron variant and its many subvariants. I’m also tremendously grateful for everyone who has—or soon will—get boosted to protect yourself, your loved ones, and your communities as the winter months fast approach.
Another big “thank you” goes out to all the researchers studying Long COVID, the complex and potentially debilitating constellation of symptoms that strikes some people after recovery from COVID-19. I look forward to more answers as this work continues and we certainly couldn’t do it without our patient partners.
I’d also like to express my appreciation for the NIH’s institute and center directors who’ve contributed to the NIH Director’s Blog to showcase NIH’s broad and diverse portfolio of promising research.
Finally, a special thanks to all of you who read this blog. As you gather with family and friends to celebrate this Thanksgiving holiday, I hope the time you spend here gives you a few more reasons to feel grateful and appreciate the importance of NIH in turning scientific discovery into better health for all.
Cool Videos: Accelerating Discoveries Toward Better Health
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
One of the biggest challenges in biomedical research today is breaking down the barriers that slow the translation of new scientific discoveries into treatments and cures. Today’s video drives home that point through a parody of the Emmy Award-winning TV series, “Breaking Bad.”
Shot in Albuquerque by the University of New Mexico’s Clinical and Translational Science Center, this film focuses on a dramatic but obviously fictional example of what it takes to move fundamental knowledge about biology into a therapy that can make a difference in a patient’s life. Here’s the plot in a nutshell: “Walter White explains to his class that clinical and translational science is about accelerating basic science to clinical science and then into practice, bringing new discoveries and technology to the people. This parody shows how Walter and Jesse Pinkman bring basic science to clinical practice, and enable a multiple sclerosis (MS) patient to walk again.”
Links:
Clinical & Translational Science Center, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
Clinical and Translational Science Awards (National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences/NIH)
NIH Common Fund Video Competition
NIH support: Common Fund; National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
Eradicating Ebola: In U.S. Biomedical Research, We Trust
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins

Caption: Researcher inside a biosafety level 4 laboratory, which provides the necessary precautions for working with the Ebola virus.
Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH
Updated August 28, 2014: Today, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced plans to begin initial human testing of an investigational vaccine to prevent Ebola virus disease. Testing of the vaccine, co-developed by NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and GlaxoSmithKline, will begin next week at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD.
As the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease continues to spread in West Africa, now affecting four countries in the region, I am reminded how fragile life is—and how important NIH’s role is in protecting it.
NIH research has helped us understand how Ebola initially infects people and how it spreads from person to person. Preventing this spread is currently our greatest defense in fighting it. Through research, we know that the Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids and is not transmitted through the air like the flu. We also know the symptoms of Ebola and the period during which they can appear. This knowledge has informed how we manage the disease. We know that the virus can be contained and eradicated with early identification, isolation, strict infection control, and meticulous medical care.
Formula for Innovation: People + Ideas + Time
Posted on by Dr. Sally Rockey and Dr. Francis Collins
In these times of tight budgets and rapidly evolving science, we must consider new ways to invest biomedical research dollars to achieve maximum impact—to turn scientific discoveries into better health as swiftly as possible. We do this by thinking strategically about the areas of research that we support, as well as the process by which we fund that research.
Historically, most NIH-funded grants have been “project-based,” which means that their applications have clearly delineated aims for what will be accomplished during a defined project period. These research project grants typically last three to five years and vary in award amount. For example, the average annual direct cost of the R01 grant—the gold standard of NIH funding—was around $282,000 in FY 2013, with an average duration of about 4.3 years.
In Memory of Sam Berns
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
This weekend, in a heartbreaking phone call from his parents, I learned of the death of Sam Berns, a courageous young man with Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome. Sam may have only lived 17 years, but in his short life he taught the rest of us a lot about how to live.
Sam’s parents, Scott Berns and Leslie Gordon, both physicians, introduced me to Sam more than a decade ago. At that time, no one knew the cause of this extremely rare disease that causes children to age at a dramatically accelerated pace, leading to death from heart attack or stroke at the average age of 13.
Initially, I sought to provide them with some advice about how to encourage more research on progeria, but before long my own research lab began working on the problem—and 10 years ago, working with Leslie, we found the cause: a single letter misspelling of the DNA code in a highly vulnerable place in the genome. Almost all children with progeria had that same exact glitch.
Driving Innovation and Creativity with High Risk Research
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins

Caption: One of the many faces of NIH-supported innovation, Stanford’s Christina Smolke is exploring how synthetic biology and microbes can be used to produce new drugs. She is a 2012 Pioneer Award winner.
Credit: Linda Cicero/Stanford News Service
High-risk research isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s for fearless researchers who envision and develop innovative projects with unconventional approaches that, if successful, may yield great leaps in our understanding of health problems and/or biological mechanisms. It takes nerve and creativity to conceive such projects—and, often, special support to bring them to fruition. And, as the name implies, there is a significant chance of failure.
One Nation in Support of Biomedical Research?
Posted on by Dr. Sally Rockey and Dr. Francis Collins
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Until recently, we’d never have dreamed of mentioning the famous opening line of Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities in the context of U.S. biomedical research. But now those words ring all too true.
The “best of times” reflects the amazing technological advances and unprecedented scientific opportunities that exist right now. We’ve never had a better chance to make rapid progress in preventing, diagnosing, and curing human disease. But the “worst of times” is the other reality: NIH’s ability to support vital research at more than 2,500 universities and organizations across the nation is reeling from a decline in funding that threatens our health, our economy, and our standing as the world leader in biomedical innovation.
Celebration of Science
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Biomedical research has had a major positive impact on nearly all of our lives. Due in large part to NIH-supported research, a baby born in the United States today can expect to live to nearly age 79—about three decades longer than one born in 1900. But, with so many people still in desperate need of treatments and cures, much more remains to be done.
To show you a few of the many ways in which researchers are now working to save, extend, and improve lives, I’d like to share this video from the recent “Celebration of Science” forum at NIH. Not only will you hear from a leader in Congress, you’ll see how research is touching the lives of some ordinary people: an HIV-positive woman with dreams of having children, a young man using his brain waves to control a robotic arm, and teenage twins up against a mysterious disease. Take a look—we even have a celebrity cameo from a Seinfeld star!