{"id":34450,"date":"2022-06-05T16:06:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-05T20:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/?page_id=34450"},"modified":"2025-05-01T17:26:50","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T21:26:50","slug":"case-study-commitment-to-public-good","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/public-service-leadership-institute\/tools\/case-study-commitment-to-public-good\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Study: Commitment to Public Good"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/i>Back to all case studies<\/span><\/a>\n\n\n\n
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Case Study: Commitment to Public Good<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Francis Collins: A commitment to public good, public health and public service leadership<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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In the 1980s, a young scientist at the University of Michigan was working to identify the gene that causes cystic fibrosis, an inherited disease that researchers had been investigating for years.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hitting roadblock after roadblock, the scientist was faced with a choice: go it alone and hope eventually to take credit for a discovery\u2014or join forces with others competing for the same recognition.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He chose the latter, pitching a collaborative effort with Dr. Lap-Chee Tsui at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Combining their labs, Tsui and the scientist identified the gene two years later, a landmark discovery that laid the groundwork for future advancements<\/a> in the treatment of cystic fibrosis and marked one of the first times the genetic basis for an inherited disease had been found.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That scientist was none other than Dr. Francis Collins, one of the nation\u2019s foremost public servants who has left an indelible mark on global medicine in roles ranging from leader of the Human Genome Project to director of the National Institutes of Health to science advisor to the president.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collins\u2019 work on cystic fibrosis foreshadowed his approach to solving other pressing health challenges: a willingness to collaborate and engage others<\/a>; a strong self-awareness<\/a> with a unique blend of academic and emotional intelligence; a desire to lead change<\/a> by taking calculated risks; and a steadfast focus on achieving results<\/a> for individual patients.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout his four-decade career, Collins has leveraged all of these leadership competencies to serve the public good and improve the well-being of current and future generations worldwide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI did not enter government as a public servant to add more entries to my CV about a committee I served on or a project I led. I became a public servant to give myself in every way that I can to advance the cause of human health for the benefit of humanity,\u201d Collins said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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