Good morning, everyone, and how are you today? We are doing just fine, thank you, despite the cloudy skies looming over the Pharmalot campus. After all, the birds are still chirping and a cool breeze is wafting by. And so, we are dutifully concocting a few needed cups of stimulation as we dig in for another busy day. No doubt, you can relate. Our choice today is butter pecan. And so now, the time has come to get cracking. As always, we have assembled some items of interest for you. So hoist your own cup to a successful day and drop us a line when something interesting arises…
Under the reign of Francis Collins, the National Institutes of Health was untouchable, STAT notes. From virtually the moment President Obama appointed him in 2009, prominent figures in government and science have been enchanted by the Harley-riding, guitar-playing geneticist who brought newfound attention to the nation’s medical research agency. In less than a decade, the NIH budget ballooned from $29 billion to $42 billion. In an era when Democrats and Republicans agreed on nothing, the NIH’s popularity served as a rare unifier under three presidents. But his popularity obscured a debate raging in university laboratories and biotech boardrooms across the country: Is the biomedical sciences agency living up to its mission? Or, more fundamentally: What should its mission be?