Biography
Dr. Melissa Haendel’s background is in translational science, with a recent focus on ontology development, semantic engineering technologies, and open science infrastructure programs. Dr. Haendel’s vision is to weave together healthcare systems, basic science research, and patient generated data through development of data integration technologies and innovative data capture strategies. Dr. Haendel co-leads both the Monarch Initiative, an international consortium dedicated improving rare disease diagnosis; and the NCATS Data Translator, which aims tointegrate hundreds of data resources for mechanism and drug discovery. The CD2H is tasked with coordinating informatics across 60 Clinical and Translational Science Award Institutes, and is focused on implementation of cloud and information architecture, clinical data model interoperability, and precision-medicine focused terminology development. Dr. Haendel also coleads the GA4GH Clinical and Phenotypic workstream, supporting cross-disciplinary international teams, development of standards for clinical genetics in rare disease and cancer, and improving access to data across the world.