Francis Collins and NIH

Francis Collins, well known scientist who also is a well known Christian is about to take over the Nat. Inst. of Health. Some are concerned his Christianity may override his science inclinations and affect how research gets funded - a main function of the NIH. What if he decides that stem cell research is not necessary? Or that God designed the brain so we don't need to look into it too much?

Is he the right guy to keep the public informed about the cutting edge of US research?
See Steven Pinker's opinion - a brain researcher.
It seems awfully hard to keep church and state separate.