Refreshing NIH ’s Genomic Data Sharing Policy

Dr. Lyric Jorgenson, Acting Associate Director for Science Policy and Acting Director of the NIH Office of Science Policy Guest post by Dr. Lyric Jorgenson, Acting Associate Director for Science Policy and Acting Director of the NIH Office of Science Policy, originally released on the Under the Poliscope blog. We’ve all heard the ancient expression that “the only constant in life is change.” While this phrase was first spoken about 2500 years ago, it is a remarkably insightful way of describing the most important aspect of policymaking; being able to adapt to a changing landscape. NIH strives to ensure our policies keep pace with the science we support, and as policy professionals we work hard to anticipate the future while developing meaningful policies capable of supporting the present.  Naturally, this is easier said than done.  Complicated issues rarely are resolved on the first go-round and scientific opportunity and community expectations evolve over time.  Nuance, flexibility, and community experience are all necessary ingredients in evaluating the impact of a policy and its future course.  An interesting case study to illustrate this point can be found in the 2014 NIH Genomic Data Sharing (GDS) Policy. For those of you who have been in the game for a while, you will remember that the GDS Policy was born out of the successes of the 2007 NIH Genome-Wide Association Study Policy.  In the roughly seven years between the release of the GWAS Policy and the formu...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - Category: Research Authors: Tags: blog Open Mike genomic data sharing RFI Source Type: funding