Francis Collins (and his guitar) heads to the NIH

Just a short note and congratulations to Dr. Francis Collins for being confirmed as director of the National Institutes of Health.

Francis Collins is new NIH director

According to the Associated Press, Collins was confirmed by the US Senate yesterday via voice vote (say “aye” or “nay”), so I’d have to say this was an even easier confirmation than Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who took her oath today from Chief Justice Roberts as the first Hispanic justice of the US Supreme Court after a non-event of hearings.

Collins is a familiar face and name at the NIH, having been one of the prime-movers of the human genome project as head of the Human Genome Research Institute for 15 years. He also authored the controversial book “The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief ” which led to the BioLogos Foundation, a website attempting to bridge the gap between religion and science.

If you Google Dr. Collins’ name you’ll come up with a long list of accomplishments, so he would be perfect for this job especially in this new age of  personalized medicine. But to NHRGI insiders, he is well-known for something other than science. Once every year, this rock-star (wannabe?)  performs for his fellow colleagues and students. He dances, does stand-up comedies and sings with his guitar – and it brings the house down! So I’m sure this is one of the perks he’ll bring with him to the NIH director’s chair.

Erm. You’ve been warned.

PS: you may also bump into a leather-clad version on a motorcycle… You’ve been twice-warned.

Image: NHGRI