A Population Health Initiative-funded team examines the ethics of a key genomic dataset

Sarah C. Nelson, PhD, a research scientist with the UW Biostatistics Genetics Analysis Center, is co-principal investigator for a group UW researchers examining the ethical and social implications of using legacy datasets in population health research. 

“Compared to contemporary data collections, it’s surprising that a sample of around 1,000 individuals assembled decades ago to primarily study population genetics has become such a gold standard for representing genetic diversity across much of biomedical research,” said Nelson.