NHGRI appoints James Thomas as new director of NIH Intramural Sequencing Center

The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has selected James Thomas, Ph.D., as the new director of the NIH Intramural Sequencing Center (NISC).

In this role, Dr. Thomas will oversee the importation and use of DNA sequencing technologies, protocols and analyses, ensuring that NIH investigators have access to cutting-edge DNA sequencing methods and specialized genomics protocols to meet their research needs.

“For more than 25 years, NISC has played an integral role in the projects of NHGRI and other NIH intramural researchers,” said Charles Rotimi, Ph.D., Director of NHGRI’s Intramural Research Program. “Dr. Thomas’ vision for NISC will further expand the NIH’s DNA sequencing resources and propel robust, cutting-edge research.”

NISC has been a leader in advancing DNA sequencing technologies since its establishment in 1997. NISC played a key role in NHGRI’s Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project, sequencing the genomic regions of dozens of vertebrate species and providing insights into the non-coding regions of the human genome. During the COVID-19 pandemic, NISC helped researchers understand the molecular basis of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and immune response. NISC also provided DNA sequencing and data analyses to the Telomere-to-Telomere Consortium and the Human Pangenome Reference Consortium to help produce the first complete human genome sequence and a more diversely representative human genome reference sequence.

For more than 25 years, NISC has played an integral role in the projects of NHGRI and other NIH intramural researchers. Dr. Thomas’ vision for NISC will further expand the NIH’s DNA sequencing resources and propel robust, cutting-edge research.

“It always comes back to supporting the researchers,” Dr. Thomas said. “In my position, I get to see their excitement about having access to the latest, most efficient, and cost-effective genomic technologies. We give them a spark to energize their research.”

Dr. Thomas discovered his passion for genetics during his undergraduate studies at Washington University in St. Louis. He went on to obtain his Ph.D. in genetics from Case Western Reserve University, researching germline mutagenesis and deletion complexes in the mouse genome. An interest in comparative genomics first brought him to NIH as a postdoctoral fellow in 1997, and from there to a faculty position at Emory University School of Medicine, where he was a member of the Department of Human Genetics and led a NIH-funded research group focused on comparative genomics. During this time, Dr. Thomas mentored multiple graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, supporting their energy and passion for genetics and genomics while guiding their early careers.   

In 2011, Dr. Thomas returned to NIH as deputy director of NISC, where he helped the center keep pace with a rapidly evolving DNA sequencing technology landscape. He helped adapt and implement pioneering methodologies, such as whole-genome sequencing, that were made possible by new generations of DNA sequencing instruments. During this time, NISC developed and imported innovative tools to drive genomics research forward, supporting more than a hundred NIH research projects spanning a wide range of fields, from basic science to clinical research.

It always comes back to supporting the researchers. In my position, I get to see their excitement about having access to the latest, most efficient, and cost-effective genomic technologies. We give them a spark to energize their research.

“You feel like you’re in a constant upswing of genomic technologies that keep building on themselves, and we’re now able to do things that we could never have imagined in the past,” said Dr. Thomas, speaking of his time as NISC deputy director. “It makes me excited for what will happen in the future.”

Dr. Thomas has authored and co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed research papers and over 100 publications for which he is included as part of the NISC Comparative Sequencing Program group, a collaborative research team performing comparative genomics research. He has received numerous awards, including the NIH Director’s Award, three NHGRI GREAT Awards, and a NIAID Merit Award.

Dr. Thomas began his appointment as NISC Director on September 22, 2024.