An Ode to Francis Collins
Longtime NIH director, Francis Collins, announced his resignation of the post last week. For the past twelve years, Dr. Collins has served as the head of the most important health institution in the nation while guiding the country’s scientific research under three presidents. Before becoming director of the NIH, Collins led the Human Genome Project in its daunting (and successful) mission to sequence the human genome. During his stint as NIH director, the agency’s budget grew by over $11 billion and funded the nation’s top labs in Alzheimer’s, cancer, opioid, and vaccine research. Throughout his tenure, Collins maintained and promoted his deep-seeded Christian faith to the scientific and evangelical communities. As a fellow Christian, Collins provided a role model to me for what a scientist can do with their faith. Because of Collins, I have felt confident in sharing my own faith with peers. For that, I introduce the following Ode to Francis Collins.
An Ode to Francis Collins
To a young Mr. Collins,
A naïve,
Like me,
Student of the world.
You walked along genomes
And leapt between chromosomes,
Named the unknown,
And defended a doozy.
To a young Mr. Collins,
Thank you for learning.
To a young Dr. Collins,
You made home in Michigan,
You put genes in your focus.
Huntington’s Disease
And cystic fibrosis:
Nothing was off limits
To a young buck like you.
To a young Dr. Collins,
Thank you for searching.
To a wise Dr. Collins,
The NIH you called home,
You made it your mission
To map the genome.
Successful as you were —
I’m sure you’ll agree —
You never forgot
Students like me.
To a wise Dr. Collins,
Thank you for leading.
To a wise Mr. Collins,
Though you step away
From the helm of your mission,
You have plenty left to give
Through faith and admission.
You never let go
Of your Christian beliefs,
Promoting them
To the science elite.
In the face of derision
You never lost face
Science is better
When you incorporate faith.
To a wise Mr. Collins,
Thank you for believing.
-Christopher J. Unterberger
