Inaugural class of ASHG-NHGRI Genomics and Public Service Fellows arrives

On July 1, NHGRI and the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) welcomed the inaugural class of the ASHG-NHGRI Genomics and Public Service Fellowship Program. This recently expanded program provides participants with training and career development opportunities in public policy, education and engagement, science communication, and scientific administration. The program aims to prepare fellows for the many diverse career paths that support public understanding and policies surrounding genomics.

ASHG and NHGRI have partnered on joint fellowship programs for over two decades, with this being the first year of this newly expanded program. The new program continues two prestigious graduate-level fellowships in genetics and public policy and in genetics education and engagement, but now adds a similar fellowship in genomics communications. Over the course of each of these fellowships, the fellows will have three rotations, one at NHGRI, one at ASHG, and a final rotation at an organization selected based on the fellow’s preference and anticipated career path. 

The 2024–2026 graduate-level fellows are Elizabeth Roy, M.P.H., from the University of Pittsburgh as the Genetics & Public Policy Fellow; Camerun Washington, M.S., C.G.C., from the Greenwood Genetic Center as the Genetics Education & Engagement Fellow; and Jacqueline Cohen, M.P.H., from the University of Pittsburgh as the Genomics Communications Fellow.

Throughout her fellowship, Roy will participate in the development and implementation of national policies related to genetics and genomics research and its clinical applications. After her rotation in NHGRI’s Policy and Program Analysis Branch, she will continue working on policy and advocacy with ASHG. For her third rotation, Roy will work on Capitol Hill.

Washington will develop and implement initiatives for genomics education and community engagement for diverse student and public audiences, including groups historically underrepresented in science. He will first rotate in NHGRI’s Education and Community Involvement Branch, after which he will work with ASHG’s scientific and digital programming, career development, and public engagement teams. For his third rotation, Washington will select an organization involved in science education or public engagement.

As the Genomics Communications Fellow, Cohen will create innovative and newsworthy communications products to help the public learn about genomics. Following a rotation in NHGRI’s Office of Communications, she will work with ASHG’s Communications and Public Engagement Group. For her third rotation, Cohen will select an additional organization in the DC area.

In addition to the graduate-level fellows, the expanded program now includes a post-baccalaureate fellowship. The Post-Baccalaureate Genomics Analyst Fellowship helps recent college graduates gain exposure to and training for multiple career paths that advance public service in human genetics and genomics. These fellows will work either at NHGRI in the Extramural Research Program or at ASHG for their two years.

Four 2024–2026 post-baccalaureate fellows will be based in the NHGRI Extramural Research Program, including: Mike Lopez from New Mexico State University; Sofia Martin from St. Edward’s University; Jessica Reinach from the University of Michigan; and Gabrielle Villard from the Southern California University of Health Sciences. The two fellows based at ASHG will be Maya Montgomery from Duke University and Alison Wilcox from St. Olaf College.

As part of the expanded fellowship program, NHGRI and ASHG have developed the new Journeys in Human Genetics and Genomics Colloquium. The goal of the colloquium is to showcase the depth and breadth of the scientific, clinical, and societal elements of human genetics and genomics, as well as to illustrate the myriad associated career opportunities. Colloquium lectures, which will be given by distinguished members of the genetics and genomics community, will be aimed at the level of a recent college graduate with an introductory knowledge of biology. The colloquium will feature approximately 25 lectures per year, and the recorded lectures will be made freely available on genome.gov.

Applications for the 2025–2027 class of the ASHG-NHGRI Genomics and Public Service Fellowship Program will open in October 2024. To receive email updates about the program, including application requirements, open and close dates, and more, sign up with the fellowship interest form.

Though RNA was discovered over a century ago, researchers are still uncovering new functions of this versatile class of molecules. In recent years, the genomics community has been tackling the challenges of direct RNA sequencing, especially the technical hurdles of identifying and studying RNA modifications. Building on this momentum, NHGRI and the National Science Foundation (NSF) will award approximately $15.4 million over three years for research investigating the structures, functions, and interactions of RNA, as well as the development of new RNA-based technologies. NHGRI will award approximately $2.7 million to two projects. One project will be conducted at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and will focus on synthesizing long RNA molecules using a microfluidics platform. The other project will be conducted at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and will expand the capabilities of nanopore RNA sequencing. Read more about the awards.

Last year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) released a report on the use of population descriptors in genetics and genomics research, which reviewed the complex set of relevant issues and created guidelines for best practices when using population descriptors. One challenge that immediately arises is integrating these best practices into the use of legacy genomic data, which may include inaccurate labels that conflate race, ethnicity, and genetic ancestry. To address these challenges, NHGRI recently hosted a two-day workshop entitled Population Descriptors for Legacy Genomic Data: Challenges and Future Directions. The workshop was co-chaired by Melissa Davis, Ph.D., a professor of immunology and the director of the Institute of Genomic Medicine at the Morehouse School of Medicine, and Malia Fullerton, Ph.D., professor of bioethics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Participants included representatives from the All of Us Research Program and the Pangenome Consortium, as well as some of the authors of the NASEM report. Through talks and breakout groups, the assembled experts generated a preliminary set of recommendations — some included acknowledging the sociocultural context in which the data were collected, using the most detailed information available, and providing training for researchers interested in accessing legacy datasets. The workshop leaders plan to issue a meeting report with the full set of recommendations and to convene future workshops. Additional materials from the workshop can be found on the event webpage, and recordings of the workshop are available on NHGRI’s YouTube channel, GenomeTV.

Every summer, students come from all over the United States to work in NIH research labs and gain valuable experiences that will help them in their scientific careers. This year, over 1,000 college students or recent college graduates are participating in NIH’s Summer Internship Program (SIP), and 36 of these summer interns are working in labs in NHGRI’s Intramural Research Program. A few high school students are also joining NHGRI for the summer through the High School Scientific Training and Enrichment Program 2.0 (HiSTEP 2.0), and two additional high school students are working on history of genomics projects in NHGRI’s Office of Communications. NHGRI Director Eric Green, M.D., Ph.D., gave a lecture and met with the newly arrived summer students in late June to welcome them to NHGRI. The summer interns typically work on a research project for six to eight weeks and often present their work at a poster session organized by SIP in August.