The director of the National Institutes of Health will visit Lawrence this fall.

Dr. Elias Zerhouni has accepted an invitation to participate in the Regional Bio-Sciences Research Collaboration Summit at Kansas University.

“We’re very excited about it,” said George Wilson, KU’s associate vice provost for research. “It’s a chance for us to learn something and for us to tell him about what we’re doing.”

The summit is being organized by Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence. Topics of the event, Sept. 18 at the Dole Institute of Politics, include creating multidisciplinary research projects, linking businesses and public research centers, promoting public support of research and decreasing institutional barriers for research collaboration.

Others planning to participate in the summit include Judith Ramaley, a former KU executive vice chancellor who now is assistant director of the National Science Foundation; U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.; and U.S. Reps. Jim Ryun, R-Kan., and Dennis Moore, D-Kan.

The steering committee also plans to include researchers in its invitation-only event.

The NIH, based in Bethesda, Md., has a budget of more than $27 billion and serves as the “steward of medical and behavioral research for the nation.” Zerhouni became NIH director in May 2002.

“This is a truly historic occasion for Kansas,” Sloan said. “Having the NIH director and NSF assistant director together to help foster collaboration within the scientific community can only help our state’s bioscience community to grow and create additional jobs.”