Elaine Mardis, PhD, Presented Award of Excellence in Molecular Diagnostics

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) - Elaine Mardis, PhD, co-executive director of the Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children's Hospital, has been awarded the Association for Molecular Pathology's (AMP) Award for Excellence in Molecular Diagnostics. The award was presented during the AMP 2025 Annual Meeting & Expo in Boston, Mass.

The Award for Excellence in Molecular Diagnostics is AMP's highest honor, and recognizes Dr. Mardis' groundbreaking work in cancer genomics, immunogenomics and analytics, in addition to her significant contributions to advancing molecular diagnostics.

"Nationwide Children's is committed to delivering high-quality care and conducting the vital research that aims to improve that care. Some of our most important innovations include more accurate clinical diagnostics that in turn lead to better treatment outcomes. Dr. Mardis' valued expertise in this field is making a significant impact on pediatric clinical care," said Dennis Durbin, MD, MSCE, president of the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's. "This award of excellence is well-deserved recognition of her considerable role improving child health care and research."

An internationally recognized expert, Dr. Mardis co-led the effort to sequence and analyze the first cancer genome and played a vital role in major cancer genomics initiatives including The Cancer Genome Atlas and the Pediatric Cancer Genome Project.

She is principal investigator for the Molecular Characterization Initiative (MCI) - a collaborative project between the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Children's Oncology Group (COG) and Nationwide Children's that aims to collect analyze and report clinical molecular data to support COG-affiliated clinicians in choosing the best individualized treatment for pediatric cancer patients. In that role, Dr. Mardis has overseen the molecular profiling of more than 5,500 pediatric, adolescent and young adult cancer cases across the country.

Dr. Mardis was elected to membership in the National Academy of Medicine in 2019. She is also an elected fellow of the Academy of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and served as AACR President from 2019-2020.

About the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital
Named to the Top 10 Honor Roll on U.S. News & World Report's 2025-26 list of "Best Children's Hospitals," Nationwide Children's Hospital is one of America's largest not-for-profit free-standing pediatric health care systems providing unique expertise in pediatric population health, behavioral health, genomics and health equity as the next frontiers in pediatric medicine, leading to best outcomes for the health of the whole child. Integrated clinical and research programs are part of what allows Nationwide Children's to advance its unique model of care. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children's faculty train the next generation of pediatricians, scientists and pediatric specialists. The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's is one of the Top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded free-standing pediatric research facilities in the U.S., supporting basic, clinical, translational, behavioral and population health research. AWRI is comprised of multidisciplinary Centers of Emphasis paired with advanced infrastructure supporting capabilities such as technology commercialization for discoveries; gene- and cell-based therapies; and genome sequencing and analysis. More information is available at NationwideChildrens.org/Research.

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