Head of DNA project to speak at Finals

Dr. Francis S. Collins, the physician-geneticist who heads the international Human Genome Project, will speak at Final Exercises on May 20.

A 1970 graduate of U.Va. and director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Human Genome Research Institute, Collins oversees the 13-year, publicly funded research effort to map and sequence all of the human DNA genetic code, a project that has been called the most important scientific undertaking of our era. Its aim is to help understand the basis of genetic diseases and gain insight into human evolution.

Raised on a small farm near Staunton and home-schooled until the sixth grade, Collins entered U.Va. at age 16 and received his undergraduate degree in chemistry. His accomplishments have brought numerous honors. Earlier this year, he was named a Virginia Outstanding Scientist of the Year.