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Bettie Graham retires after over 50 years of federal service

Anna Rogers, M.A. January 11, 2024   PRESS CONTACT

Dr. Graham reflects on her contributions to the scientific community, her retirement and the future of the genomics workforce.

“My mother always said, ‘When Bettie gets something in her head, it's not in her feet,’” Bettie Graham, Ph.D., recounted during remarks she made at the 2023 National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) Symposium. “I never did ask her what she meant by that, but I surmise it was if I wanted to do something, I would not easily give up or give in.”

It would be impossible to list all of the contributions that Dr. Graham has made in over 50 years of federal service and over 30 years at NHGRI, part of the National Institutes of Health. Even a partial list of her achievements speaks to her skill, tenacity and unflagging desire to help others.

Dr. Graham laid the foundation for her legacy of public service by teaching math and science in Nigeria while serving in the Peace Corps, which she joined after graduating from Texas Southern University in 1962. She then pursued a Ph.D. in virology, and in 1971, she became the first person of color to earn a doctorate from Baylor College of Medicine.

NHGRI didn’t exist yet when Dr. Graham arrived at the NIH, but when the Office of Genome Research, which would eventually become NHGRI, winked into existence in 1989, Dr. Graham became the institute’s third employee. Dr. Graham most recently served as the director of the NHGRI Division of Extramural Operations, and throughout her career in the institute’s Extramural Research Program, Dr. Graham has had far-reaching impacts on the genomics community, making NHGRI’s training and funding opportunities as transparent and accessible as possible.

Dr. Graham has also been a steadfast advocate for diversity in the genomics workforce. “When the Human Genome Project first started, there were no underrepresented minority scientists involved in genomics,” said Dr. Graham. “It was very clear that if NHGRI wanted to have underrepresented minority scientists involved, we would have to grow our own.”

In 2001, NHGRI convened a meeting of experts who provided recommendations to address the lack of diversity in the genomics workforce. Dr. Graham was instrumental in integrating these recommendations into NHGRI’s training and grants portfolio.

“Bettie always made sure we had broad and equitable representation in all our activities,” said Izzy Goldberg, Ph.D., Dr. Graham’s supervisor in her first role as a program director at NIH. “Not just in relation to race or gender, but Bettie supported participation from all credible researchers, such as people without medical degrees who have experience caring for patients.”

More recently, as a member of UNITE, an NIH-wide initiative to address structural racism in the biomedical workforce, Dr. Graham has expanded and revised NIH’s education and training programs — and these programs’ application processes — in an effort to provide more equity. Dr. Graham’s leadership has resulted in revisions that expand the research environments in which training occurs; strengthen recruitment and retention efforts to create a more diverse training pool; and ensure that faculty receive instruction on effective mentoring.

These are just some examples of Dr. Graham’s work in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA). In recognition of her important work in this area, Dr. Graham was one of the first recipients of NHGRI’s Outstanding Award for Enhancing DEIA in the Genomics Workforce in 2022. This award has now been renamed the Bettie J. Graham Leadership Award for Enhancing DEIA in the Genomics Workforce in honor of her remarkable career.

Dr. Graham discussed her career and the future of genomics in an interview with science writer Anna Rogers.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Anna Rogers: How has NHGRI changed over your career?

 

Bettie Graham: My research had been in virology, and genomics didn't really exist yet when I arrived at NIH. When genomics first started, we at NHGRI were the ones supporting most of the research in a significant way. But now, genomics has really spread throughout the NIH and other agencies. Now, I would say that every institute, center and office is very much involved in genomics. That's a good thing when you can seed an effort and then really see it take off.

Rogers: What are some accomplishments from your career that you are most proud of?

 

Graham: One example is as a grants associate, I was encouraged to take an assignment outside of NIH. I went to the US Agency for International Development of the State Department, which was in the process of having a really serious meeting with experts from Sub-Saharan Africa and the World Health Organization about the elimination of malaria.

 

In two months there, I developed a resource document for a meeting held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast with a lot of health offices from Sub-Saharan Africa and staff from the WHO and the US AID staff. This experience pulled from my Peace Corps experience, so the meeting went off very well. Everybody went home and all excited about doing something. Not expecting anything to happen soon, I returned to NIH to continue my career as a program director.

But in June of 2007, I got an email from the current medical officer at the WHO office in Geneva, Switzerland, informing me that he was again reading the document that I had prepared 28 years before and that he found it very comprehensive and useful. 

 

I had left an inscription at the end of the document, stating, "I have enjoyed this project and, in optimism, hope that it will be tremendously helpful to those for whom it is intended." The current medical officer wanted me to know that indeed it was, even after all these years. It was great to hear this news, but yet very sad since things have not changed significantly. 

Rogers: What are your hopes for the future of genomics research and training?

 

Graham: I think we've tried to really make sure that we have a workforce that is diverse, but it's been very, very slow. I'm saddened by that because it’s one area that I've not been able to have any real impact on when you think about the numbers, but I'm not giving up.

 

I think there's lots of hope, even though there are some issues that training programs can't easily address, like how some students can afford to do internships without being paid or can afford to go to graduate school without having to worry about if they will make enough money and whether their families will be taken care of. Many graduate school stipends are not sufficient to live on, and there are many families who can't supplement or subsidize their children’s education. 

 

Years ago, I looked at some National Science Foundation data that showed that many minority students who matriculate into graduate school do not finish, so if we could only retain the number that we admit, that would have a huge effect on changing the face of the workforce. I don't know how to fix these issues, but I really believe these are areas we need to look at more if we are serious about diversifying the workforce.

Rogers: Do you have any advice for trainees in genomics?

 

Graham: Do the best you can. Whether you're in graduate school or an undergrad, if you have problems understanding something, don't be afraid to ask questions.

 

And maintain connections with the people you work with and your mentors. It’s important to find mentors who will guide you through this morass of going from a trainee to a successful researcher. Effective mentors should look at each person as an individual and reach out to them and provide them with whatever is missing.

 

These connections can support you and provide you with opportunities to take the next steps in your career, and you can't buy a book that'll tell you about these kinds of things. You have to know people, because every situation is different.

Rogers: What are your plans for retirement?

 

Graham: Right now, I don't have any firm plans. I delayed retirement because I like my job and I didn’t know what else I’d do, but my goal is to find something that I enjoy doing and that’s also impactful.

 

Nothing is set in stone, but one of the things I have been looking at is teaching kids to read. If a kid can't read by the 3rd grade, they’re lost to the system, and we need everybody in this community functioning at the highest level they can. All of us are in this together, so we each need to find a way to help out.

Last updated: January 11, 2024