DER Overview

Jane Peterson, Ph.D.

Jane Peterson
Associate Director
Division of Extramural Research


Ph.D. University of Colorado

phone (301) 496-7531
fax (301) 480-2770
e-mail petersoj@mail.nih.gov
5635 Fishers Ln
Room 4076, MSC 9305
Rockville, MD 20892-9305


All About the Human Genome Project

The Large-Scale Genome Sequencing Program


As an associate director of the Division of Extramural Research of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Jane Peterson plays an important role in the administration of NHGRI extramural activities. Dr. Peterson directs NHGRI's comparative sequencing program, the aim of which is to improve our understanding of the human genome and genome biology through comparisons of genome sequences from multiple organisms. She also works on The Cancer Genome Atlas project and The Knockout Mouse Project.

Dr. Peterson is recognized as a dedicated leader of the Human Genome Project, on which she has served in the capacity of scientific administrator since the project's inception. Dr. Peterson came to NHGRI in 1989 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, where she served as a program director for the Genetics Program. Having served as program director for large-scale sequencing at NHGRI since 1995, she administers and evaluates cooperative agreements with large-scale DNA sequencing centers.

Dr. Peterson won the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary's Award in 2001 for her contributions to the Human Genome Project and again in 2005 for her involvement in The International HapMap Project. She received her B.A. from Western College in Oxford, Ohio and her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado's Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology.

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Last Reviewed: May 23, 2012