James Watson headed the NIH Genome Program when the Department of Energy and NIH coordinated Human Genome Project plans in 1990.
Watson became the first director of the NIH’s National Center for Human Genome Research, the organization created to manage NIH’s role in the project. In 1990, the DOE and NIH formalized cooperation through a memorandum of understanding and began the project’s official phase.
The timing matters because several prominent genome scientists held different roles. Francis Collins succeeded Watson in 1993 and became the best-known later leader of the public project. Craig Venter led the privately funded Celera Genomics effort, which began in 1998. Eric Lander was a major contributor and later a leader at the Whitehead Institute, but he did not head the NIH Genome Program in 1990.
Watson resigned in April 1992 after conflicts with NIH Director Bernadine Healy, including disagreements over gene patents and the direction of genome research. Collins then became the project’s NIH leader in 1993.