Eric Green, M.D., Ph.D., formerly the NHGRI director, has been awarded by Fierce Pharma as a Fierce 50 Innovation Honoree. The Fierce 50 is designed to honor the 50 most influential leaders and organizations shaping the future of biopharma, healthcare, and life sciences. The Fierce editorial team choses honorees who exemplify excellence, vision, and impact-setting new standards for innovation, advancing equity, and driving progress for patients worldwide. Fierce breaks down the honorees across the categories of leadership, breakthrough, health equity, innovation, and social impact.

Dr. Eric Green served as the director of NHGRI from 2009 through 2025 and had been with the Institute since 1997. Prior to that, he played an integral role in the Human Genome Project. Green was at the forefront of efforts to map, sequence, and understand mammalian genomes. He was heavily involved in the Human Genome Project from start to finish, which spawned a program in comparative genomics that provided important insights about genome structure, function, and evolution. His laboratory identified and characterized several human disease genes, including those implicated in certain forms of hereditary deafness, vascular disease, and peripheral neuropathy.

Dr. Green has been highly innovative in the field of genomics. The word “genomics” had only just begun being used when he graduated in 1987. When he took over as Director of NHGRI in 2009, the Institute was the major funder of genomics. However, NHGRI quickly became a very small funder, dollar-wise as most other NIH Institutes began funding genomics in their research area, thanks to the evangelizing of genomics that Green and his NHGRI colleagues were doing. The other Institutes were fitting in genomics research into their field of expertise, from heart disease to lung to disease to cancer and so on.  

We are glad to see Dr. Green be recognized as the innovative pioneer that he is. His contributions to NIH were immeasurable, and we wish him luck on his next endeavor!