In an interview on National Public Radio, new National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., praises the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for its leadership in the field of drug development for rare diseases.

“The CF Foundation has, in many ways, led the way…” Collins says, describing how the Foundation's strategy to collaborate with biotech companies and academic researchers has led to exciting new drug treatment approaches that are “showing great promise.”

Collins was interviewed on Talk of the Nation's Science Friday about his priorities as the head of the NIH. One caller, a mom with a 9-year-old boy with CF, thanks Collins for being co-discoverer of the cystic fibrosis gene in 1989, a watershed moment.

Collins will be the keynote speaker at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference in Minneapolis, Minn., Oct. 15-17, 2009.

Listen to the full Collins interview.