Louis, MO. She holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Chemistry (1989) and a B.S. in Zoology (1984) from the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Mardis has been at the Washington University School of Medicine’s Genome Sequencing Center (GSC) since 1993, playing a pivotal role in the evaluation, optimization and application of novel sequencing instrumentation, chemistry and molecular biology. As Director of Technology Development, she helped develop automation and pipelines for sequencing the Human Genome. She currently orchestrates the GSC’s efforts to explore next generation sequencing technologies and to transition them into the Center’s production sequencing efforts. Interviewed by Orli Bahcall, Nature Genetics