Francis Collins, MD, PhD became a proud part of BWH history on Friday, May 24. As this year’s Physician-In-Chief Pro Tempore, Collins, director of the National Genome Research Institute, is one of many distinguished physicians who visit BWH to give trainees and faculty the opportunity to work with and learn from forerunners in the medical world.
The theme of tradition was an important one in Collins’ presentation. His vision of the future of medicine is one that breaks from the previous tradition of curing diseases, and focuses on individualized treatment and risk prevention through genetics.
“We are unraveling our own instruction booklet,” said Collins. “And this information will lead us to a revolution in patient care.”
While discussing the current state of affairs of the Human Genome Project, Collins forecasted a bright future for medicine. He predicted that within the next two decades, genetics will be the mainstay of individualized preventative medicine and gene-based drug therapy will dramatically impact treatment.
“There is not a more exciting time to be both alive and a physician scientist,” Collins concluded at the end of his presentation.