From staff reports

Dr. Francis S. Collins makes a point during his visit to campus, which included a town hall event for faculty, staff, students, and postdoctoral fellows.

Speaking to a near-capacity crowd in the Tom and Lula Gooch Auditorium on May 19, Dr. Francis S. Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), said the future of medicine belongs to institutions like UT Southwestern that are integrating robust basic science with the most advanced technologies available, positioning themselves to discover the treatments of tomorrow.

At a special town hall event for faculty, staff, students, and postdoctoral fellows, Dr. Collins discussed biomedical research priorities, outlined the approach NIH is using for funding projects, and showcased examples of how groundbreaking research is being translated into clinical practice – including UT Southwestern’s scientific and translational successes in cardiovascular disease.

“It’s always nice to get outside of the Beltway and see what is happening in one of our great medical research institutions,” Dr. Collins said of his visit, during which he met with UT Southwestern President Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, students, and researchers.

“We were deeply honored by Dr. Collins’ visit and the opportunity it provided to discuss UT Southwestern’s programs and research priorities. Dr. Collins’ recognition of the impact of research carried out at UT Southwestern over decades was deeply gratifying and reflective of the enormous talent and commitment of our faculty,” Dr. Podolsky said.

Dr. Francis S. Collins autographs his book “Belief: Readings on the Reason for Faith” for students as Dr. Roger Rosenberg (center) visits with the NIH Director.

In his address, Dr. Collins noted the history of breakthroughs in cardiovascular research at UT Southwestern, from the basic science discoveries of Nobel Laureates Dr. Michael Brown and Dr. Joseph L. Goldstein that allowed the development of statins, to the establishment of the Dallas Heart study by Dr. Helen Hobbs and her recent discoveries with Dr. Jonathan Cohen involving the protein PCSK9, findings that are fueling the next generation of cholesterol treatments.

“I feel a little bit like the guy who brought coal to Newcastle to come to this institution to talk about translational research,” Dr. Collins quipped.

Dr. Collins said that chief among the areas of focus for NIH – the world’s largest source of public funding for biomedical research – are projects on the human genome and the brain. He highlighted successes using CRISPR gene-editing tools, which include the work of Dr. Eric Olson, Chair of Molecular Biology, in correcting Duchenne muscular dystrophy in mice. He also touted the advances in transcriptional regulation pioneered by Dr. Steven McKnight, Professor of Biochemistry, which may help preserve brain cells.

“The initiatives on the brain are going to be among the most exciting spaces,” Dr. Collins said. “I was thrilled to hear that UT Southwestern aims to try to make a big investment in that space by building an initiative that brings together the type of expertise that’s needed across technology development and computational skills, the basic science of neurons, and imaging capabilities that connect up with clinical applications. We hope that will speed what we desperately need, which is new ideas for conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and schizophrenia, among a long list.”

On the genomics front, Dr. Collins noted that while we now understand the molecular basis of about 6,000 diseases, we have treatments for only about 500 of those, demonstrating that important discoveries are yet to be made.

“There’s still a big gap between what we know and what we can do,” he said.

Dr. Brown, Director of the Erik Jonsson Center for Research in Molecular Genetics and Human Disease and a Regental Professor, holds The W.A. (Monty) Moncrief Distinguished Chair in Cholesterol and Arteriosclerosis Research, and the Paul J. Thomas Chair in Medicine.

Dr. Cohen, Professor of Internal Medicine and in the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development, holds the C. Vincent Prothro Distinguished Chair in Human Nutrition Research.

Dr. Goldstein, Chair of Molecular Genetics and a Regental Professor, holds the Julie and Louis A. Beecherl, Jr. Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Research, and the Paul J. Thomas Chair in Medicine.

Dr. Hobbs, Director of the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development, holds the Philip O’Bryan Montgomery, Jr., M.D. Distinguished Chair in Developmental Biology, and the 1995 Dallas Heart Ball Chair in Cardiology Research.

Dr. McKnight holds the Distinguished Chair in Basic Biomedical Research.

Dr. Olson, Director of the Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine, holds the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair in Research on Cardiac Birth Defects, and the Annie and Willie Nelson Professorship in Stem Cell Research.

Dr. Podolsky holds the Philip O’Bryan Montgomery, Jr., M.D. Distinguished Presidential Chair in Academic Administration, and the Doris and Bryan Wildenthal Distinguished Chair in Medical Science.

Dr. Rosenberg, Professor of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics and of Physiology, holds The Abe (Brunky), Morris and William Zale Distinguished Chair in Neurology.