Revolutionizing cancer care with next-generation sequencing: an interview with Elaine Mardis

Elaine Mardis, co-director at the Washington University Genome Institute, has a long-standing interest in the development of sequencing technologies, which, in the 1990s, led her to play a pivotal role in the completion of the Human Genome project. Driven by the desire to apply her technological know-how to the improvement of human health, she then pioneered the sequencing and analysis of cancer genomes. These milestones have established Elaine as a leader in the cancer genomics field. In this interview, she recalls the events that shaped her career path, discusses the value of industry experience in a research setting, and provides her perspectives on challenges to clinical implementation of next-generation sequencing.