NIH Director: Political-Driven Research Funding Worrisome

NIH Director Francis Collins raised concerns on Tuesday (Feb. 9) that a push towards funding disease-specific programs would detour the agency from pursuing basic scientific research, a main pillar of the agency's activities. While he acknowledged the benefit in Congress and the agency working together to determine specific areas of disease investment, the director said the danger appears when scientific opportunity is driven by political considerations. Collins said broad support for research is necessary to lead to scientific advancements. His...