Dr. Rebekah Rasooly
Program Director for the Genetics & Genomics Program, in the Division of Kidney, Urologic & Hematologic Diseases at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of NIH
Dr. Rebekah S. Rasooly is Program Director for the Genetics & Genomics Program, in the Division of Kidney, Urologic & Hematologic Diseases at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of NIH. She joined the NIDDK in summer 2001, after serving as Deputy Branch Chief of the Genetics and Molecular Neurobiology Branch at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) for two years. At NIDDK, she served for three years as Deputy Director of her Division. Dr. Rasooly came to the NIH from academia, where she had funding from both NIH and NSF for basic research in Drosophila genetics. Dr. Rasooly was the Clare Booth Luce Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at St. John’s University and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, before becoming Associate Deputy Scientific Director of the internationally known genetics database OMIM (On-line Mendelian Inheritance in Man). She has numerous peer-reviewed publications for both her genetics laboratory work and subsequent participation in major genetics and genomics research projects in NIH.
At NIH, Dr. Rasooly is co-Chair of the Trans-NIH Zebrafish Coordinating Committee and serves as the NIDDK representative to the trans-NIH Participant Protection and Data Management Committee that oversees sharing of large genomics datasets in dbGAP. On a part-time basis, she works on program policy issues in the NIH Office of Extramural Programs, developing and revising policy guidance materials.
Through her experience managing the NIDDK Central Repositories, Dr. Rasooly has become a recognized NIH resource on issues related to human biospecimen repositories, serving on the Trans-NIH Bioethics Committee’s Data and Specimen Committee and has represented the US to the OECD’s Expert Panel developing Guidelines for Human Biobanks and Genetic Research Databases.
Dr. Rasooly graduated from Harvard University in 1982, has a Ph.D. in genetics from Michigan State University, and has received numerous awards and honors, including several NIH and NIDDK Director’s awards.
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