September
10, 2003
Gold Award Ceremony for Dr. Francis Collins
and Dr. Ari Patrinos
Remarks Prepared for Delivery by
Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham
Thank you Ray, and thank you all for coming
today. And welcome to all of those joining
us through the DOE network.
We have some of our lab directors with us
today … Len Peters from Pacific Northwest
National Lab … Praveen Chaudhari from
Brookhaven ... and Bill Madia who until a
few weeks ago directed our Oak Ridge National
Lab. Welcome to you all.
And let me especially welcome Elias Zerhouni,
the Director of the National Institutes of
Health, to the Department of Energy.
It’s been a great pleasure getting to
know Director Zerhouni, and I want him to
know how much we admire his leadership at
NIH and to say publicly how much we appreciate
the superb working relationship that has developed
between our two agencies. Let me just note
that I had the privilege earlier this year
to give the Gold Award to Dr.Edward Teller,
whose contribution to science, this Department,
and our nation are truly hard to measure.
We are deeply saddened by the news of his
death and send our condolences to his family.
Dr. Teller had an impact not only on science,
but on generations of scientists who worked
with him and learned from him. All of us are
going to miss his inspired and creative genius.
I want to also welcome the friends and family
of our awardees who are with us today. You
have every reason to be extremely proud of
what these two leaders have achieved.
As much as anything, the awards we present
today draw attention to the fact that truly
remarkable things can be accomplished when
our two agencies work together.
I have said many times that I am as proud
of our Department’s role in the Human
Genome Project as anything we have ever done.
In fact, I think no accomplishment by the
Department of Energy ranks higher than our
historic role in the sequencing of the human
genome.
Each of us is familiar – sometimes in
very personal ways – with the good that
comes from biotechnology.
Because of DNA mapping, drugs can now be designed
to attack specific and deadly cancers.
Now that science knows the detailed makeup
of our genes, it can kill diseases in our
body before they even have a chance to make
us ill.
Greater wonders … cures for some of
the cruelest diseases … are just over
the horizon.
We owe the successful completion of our genome
map in no small measure to the gentlemen we
honor today.
In distinctly different ways, but in ways
that perfectly complemented each other, Francis
Collins and Ari Patrinos formed a partnership
to pull off one of the most ambitious science
projects in history.
Francis Collins not only led the NIH Human
Genome Project, but was widely recognized
as the leader of the international effort,
involving hundreds of scientists around the
world.
Under his leadership, the Human Genome Project
was finished two and a half years ahead of
schedule and ten percent below the estimated
cost.
It is just not possible to overstate the difficulty
and historical importance of what Francis
Collins accomplished in the Human Genome Project.
DOE began the process of sequencing the human
genome in 1986.
We needed to know more about the impacts of
radiation on health and looked to undercover
these facts at the most basic level.
Ari Patrinos guided the DOE part of the Human
Genome Project with extraordinary skill. He
guided the development of many of the core
technologies used to speed the sequencing
process.
He was behind the creation of the DOE Joint
Genome Institute in California, which played
a key role in the mapping process.
And Ari showed that he possessed considerable
diplomatic skills as well.
It was Ari – and perhaps it could only
have been Ari – who brought together
the public and private sector genome programs
for a joint announcement on the significant
progress the two efforts were making.
Now Ari is leading the Department’s
Genomes to Life program, which is using the
tools and knowledge of the Human Genome Project
and the biotech revolution to help solve our
energy and environmental challenges.
This is an extraordinary program and we believe
it is going to yield very exciting results.
During the 13 years it took to complete the
task of sequencing the entire human genome,
DOE and NIH worked in tandem.
This is a model of how agencies can cooperate
on an extremely complex and long-term project.
My experience since becoming Secretary has
proven to me that the collaboration between
our agencies that was demonstrated by Francis
Collins and Ari Patrinos has been extremely
successful and now typifies the relationship.
It is for this reason … and for the
towering scientific achievement that these
two men contributed to … that I have
decided to present them with the highest honor
this Department can present … the Secretary
of Energy’s Gold Award.
It is now my great pleasure to turn the program
over to the Director of the National Institutes
of Health Elias Zerhouni.
