Dr. Brooks manages research related to genomic variation in the Division of Genome Sciences at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). She managed the international 1000 Genomes Project, which sequenced the genomes of 2504 people from 26 populations to find most human genetic variation as the basis for future studies mapping genes, genomic elements, and variants affecting disease and phenotypes. She also managed the International HapMap Project, which found the patterns of variation across the genome as the basis for genome-wide association studies (GWAS) relating variation to disease and as the basis for personal genomics. She currently manages the Variation, Function, and Disease program and grants related to structural variation and the development of statistical analysis methods for genetic variation.
Dr. Brooks joined NHGRI in 1997, initially managing the Genome Informatics Program as well as the Genetic Variation Program. She also developed and managed the Genomic Innovator Award program, and helped develop and manage the Genomic Resources program, the Noncoding Variants (NoVa) Program, the Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science (CEGS) program, the Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) program, and the Genetic Association Information Network (GAIN). Prior to that she was at Brown University and the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Brooks was elected an AAAS Fellow in 2020 and received the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service in 2005, the NIH Director's Award in 2003 and 2008, and numerous NHGRI merit awards. She received her B.S. in biology from Stanford University in 1978 with Marc Feldman and her Ph.D. in population genetics from Harvard University in 1985 with Richard Lewontin. She did a post-doc in statistical genetics at North Carolina State University with Bruce Weir.
