Welcome to the NIH MedlinePlus magazine website! Written with health consumers in mind, the magazine shares emerging research and health updates from the National Institutes of Health. I am honored to be on the cover of the spring 2021 issue of the magazine along with my colleague Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., and to provide readers with the latest NIH news on COVID-19.

"Nearly every one of NIH's 27 institutes and centers has contributed in some way over the last year-plus to COVID-19-related research."

– Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.

Since news of SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19—first emerged, we at NIH have worked around the clock to respond to it from all research angles: vaccines, testing, treatment, health disparities, mental health, and more. Nearly every one of NIH's 27 institutes and centers has contributed in some way over the last year-plus to COVID-19-related research, with the ultimate goal of improving the health of all Americans.

We want to recognize the heroes in the NIH community whose tireless work has advanced the science around COVID-19 and related health research areas. Those include Dr. Fauci, his team at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and many of the directors, researchers, and other integral NIH community members the magazine interviewed recently.

We are grateful to our entire NIH staff and community and to you, our readers. A key part of addressing COVID-19 is making sure people have access to trusted health information like that from NIH MedlinePlus magazine, which is produced by NIH's National Library of Medicine. For additional updates about COVID-19, please also visit our NIH COVID-19 Research website.

Thank you for reading!

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, National Institutes of Health