NIH director to update COVID-19 therapeutic, vaccine developments at Newsmaker, Friday

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., the 16th director of the National Institutes of Health, will deliver brief remarks and engage in a virtual Q&A on the latest COVID-19 therapeutic and vaccine developments and how the agency is helping to promote research and engagement in communities hardest hit by COVID-19, during a National Press Club Virtual Newsmaker at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23. This event was rescheduled from Sept. 28.

This one-hour program will stream live on the Club’s website and YouTube Channel, and is accessible to both the media and members of the general public free of charge. Viewers can send their questions for Dr. Collins in advance or during the live program via email to [email protected].

Appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009 and selected by President Donald Trump to continue to serve as NIH director in the current administration, Dr. Collins oversees the work of the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Collins, a physician-geneticist noted for his landmark discoveries of disease genes, served as director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at NIH 1993-2008, where he led the International Human Genome Project.