National Institutes of Health (U.S.). Office of the Director. Francis S. Collins Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS C 638

Abstract

Dates

2009-2022

Extent

206 Gigabytes (84,943 files; 221,759,345,003 bytes born digital Bagger bags)

Creator

National Institutes of Health (U.S.). Office of the Director (Organization)

Physical Location

Materials stored as onsite. History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine

Language of Materials

Collection materials primarily in English.

Access Restrictions

No restrictions on access. These records represent non-record duplicate copies cleared by NIH Records Management as open to the public without restriction. Official copies transferred to NARA.

Copyright and Re-use Information

Donor's copyrights were transferred to the public domain. Archival materials often contain mixed copyright ownership. While the NLM is the owner of the physical items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. It is the user's responsibility to research and understand any applicable copyright and re-publication rights not allowed by fair use. NLM does not grant permissions to publish.

Privacy Information

Archives and manuscript collections may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in any collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications for which the National Library of Medicine assumes no responsibility.

Biographical Note

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., took office as the 16th NIH Director on August 17, 2009, after being appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In 2017, he was asked to continue in his role by President Donald Trump, and in 2021, by President Joe Biden, until he stepped down on December 19, 2021. He was the longest serving presidentially appointed NIH Director at the time of his departure.

Dr. Collins undertook numerous landmark projects during his time as NIH Director. They included establishing the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) in 2011; the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative in 2013; the Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP) in 2014; establishing the All of Us Research Program in 2015 (previously called the Precision Medicine Initiative); developing two NIH-wide strategic plans (fiscal years 2016-2020 and 2021-2025); developing the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative in 2016; launching the NIH HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term) Initiative in 2018; launching several key programs in response to the SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic including Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV), Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx), The Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities, and the Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative; and, in 2021, the UNITE Initiative, which focuses on ending structural racism in biomedical research.

Collection Summary

Presentations, correspondence, event proceedings, speeches, writing, reports, research materials, briefing documents, meeting agendas, articles, and administrative materials document Dr. Francis Collins’s public-facing work as the Director of the National Institutes of Health.

The collection is a substantial and broad array of digital materials generated by the NIH Office of the Director during the twelve years Collins served as Director. A significant portion of the collection can be found in the Monthly Folders series which contains a month-by-month record of Dr. Collins’s participation in or support of hundreds of events, public engagements, speeches and talks, research symposiums, and other public-facing duties, including both NIH-hosted events and activities as well as external events. These monthly folders are organized by event or engagement and contain briefing information, event calendars, presentation and speech drafts, correspondence, and other background materials relevant to each event. Notable events represented here include those supporting the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Moonshot℠, the NIH Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series (WALS), the NIH Annual Evening for Hope in support of the NIH Children’s Inn, events related to the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative (a program launched by Dr. Collins in 2013), and SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) public health efforts. The Admin and Miscellaneous Presentations as Delivered series also contain a significant number of presentations and related materials. The Briefing Documents and Abstracts series primarily contains related briefing materials for these engagements, while the Talking Points and Scripts series contains talking points provided for Dr. Collins ahead of events. These five series serve as a robust record of Dr. Collins’s public-facing role as NIH Director and document the vast number of initiatives he supported over his twelve-year tenure.

A smaller portion of the collection contains administrative materials related to the daily operations of the NIH Office of the Director. The Secretary Updates – Azar series contains presentations Dr. Collins provided to Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar about various NIH initiatives, updates on NIH-funded research, and issues of public health concern, including kidney disease, cystic fibrosis, mobile health tracker apps, aging, regenerative medicine, diabetes, autism, and Lyme disease, among others.

Outside of presentations given between 2020-2021, this collection does not contain a significant number of records generated by Dr. Collins about the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) global pandemic.

Collins's personal love of music performance and other personal information such as CVs, biogrpahical sketches, and tributes to Dr. Collins upon his leaving NIH are found in the Admin and Miscellaneous series Collins FC subdirectory.

Additional Description

Abstract

Arrangement

Original order and file naming as supplied by creator. Some original file names were truncated to accomodate file transfer. Refer to MSC638-Collins-Full-File-Names.xlsx for record of original file names that were truncated.

Physical Location

Materials stored as onsite. History of Medicine Division. National Library of Medicine

Provenance

Transfer, NIH Office of the Director (through NIHOH Kim Pellis), 6/9/2022, Accession #2022-007.

Related Materials

For SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic related materials, please see Dr. Collins’s official directorship records at the National Archives and Records Administration and the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) content found in NLM's Global Health Events web archive.

General

Processed by:: Caitlin Sullivan
Processing completed:: April 2023
Encoded by:: Caitlin Sullivan

Processing Information

Approximately 84,000 electronic files were originally located on one hard drive. Files were reviewed at high level for subject matter and contents, file formats, and PII/PHI in accordance with the National Library of Medicine's collecting scope. Original hard drive discarded; all files were extracted and transferred as arranged by creator. Bagged using the BagIt specification.