HomeAbout NHGRIAbout the Office of the Director Laura Lyman Rodriguez, Ph.D.

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Laura Lyman Rodriguez, Ph.D. Acting Director Office of Policy, Communications and Education Senior Advisor to the Director for Research Policy Office of the Director B.S. Washington and Lee University, 1991 Ph.D. Baylor College of Medicine, 1996 (301) 496-0844 (301) 402-0837 rodrigla@mail.nih.gov Building 31, Room 4B09 31 Center Dr, MSC 2152 Bethesda, MD 20892-2152 Genetic Association Information Network (GAIN) Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS)

Laura Lyman Rodriguez, Ph.D., is the Acting Director for the Office of Policy, Communications and Education (OPCE) and Senior Advisor to the Director for Research Policy. She helps to develop and implement policy for National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) initiatives, and trans-National Institutes of Health (NIH) programs such as the Genetic Association Information Network. Dr. Rodriguez is particularly interested in the policy and ethics questions related to the inclusion of human research participants in genomics and genetics research.

As a major contributor to the development of the NIH Policy for Data Sharing in Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS), Dr. Rodriguez assisted in shaping the policy for NIH-supported or conducted GWAS. She also played a significant role in the establishment of the procedures for implementing and overseeing the policy across the agency.

Dr. Rodriguez received her bachelor's degree with honors in biology from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va. and earned a doctorate in cell biology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. She served as Administrative Director at the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research after graduating in 1996, and it was through this work — helping to establish that institute and its laboratories — that Dr. Rodriguez became interested in clinical research policy.

Dr. Rodriguez began her policy career as a Congressional Science Fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), where she worked with Rep. Vernon J. Ehlers (R-Mich.) on his National Science Policy Report and K-12 math and science education issues. Dr. Rodriguez also spent time in the Office of Public Affairs at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, where she focused on legislative relations, and at the National Academies, Institute of Medicine (IOM). During her time at the IOM, she directed the work of a committee examining the federal system for protecting human research participants that produced two reports: Preserving Public Trust: Accreditation, and Human Research Participant Protection Programs and Responsible Research: A Systems Approach to Protecting Research Participants.

In addition to her policy work at the NHGRI, Dr. Rodriguez served as the Special Advisor to the Director from 2003 through 2007. During this time she provided scientific support and coordination for the activities of the director and helped to design and implement a new administrative structure for the Immediate Office of the Director.

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Last Updated: August 5, 2008