URL of this page: http://www.genome.gov/10001307

Long-Range Planning

Shaping A Vision for the Future of Genomics

Since its inception, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) has been guided by a series of plans that have laid out ambitious goals and provided measurable objectives to gauge progress. The major goal of the 1998-2003 plan - the completion of a working draft sequence of the human genome - has been achieved.

NHGRI has also created and published a vision document to guide the institute into a new era of genomic research following the completion of the Human Genome Project (HGP) in April 2003. A Vision for the Future of Genomics Research gathered the input of experts in the areas of genomics, genomic applications in biology and medicine, and the ethical, legal and policy implications of genomic research through "bookend" ;planning meetings and a year-long series of workshops. Planning meetings were at the Airlie Conference Center in Warrenton, Virginia on December 12-14, 2001, (Beyond the Beginning: The Future of Genomics) and on November 18-20, 2002 (Beyond the Beginning: The Future of Genomics II).

The meetings identified the predominant future emerging themes of genomics research for next 10 to 20 years, regardless of what might be appropriate for NHGRI to pursue, and gathered information from a series of NHGRI workshops over the past year. The results of these meetings and workshops were used by NHGRI leadership to draft the new plan.

The plan was published in April 2003 in Nature [nature.com], coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the publication of the structure of DNA, the seminal work of James Watson and Francis Crick, and the completion of the sequence of the human genome.

Reports and Publications Outlining NHGRI Long-Range Planning:
History of the recent Planning Process:
NHGRI Long-Range Planning Advisors:
For more information about Long-Range Planning, please contact:

Susan Vasquez
Special Assistant to the Deputy Director
National Human Genome Research Institute
National Institutes of Health
Building 31, Room 4B09
31 Center Drive, MSC 2152
Bethesda, MD 20892-2152

Phone: (301) 402-0955
Fax: (301) 402-2218

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Last Reviewed: May 13, 2008