Data for Health in Africa Meeting
&
5th DS-I Africa Consortium Meeting
23 - 29 August 2025
CEDI Centre, University of Ghana, Accra

Dr Maria Giovanni - Participant

NIH: National Institutes of Health (NIH Staff)

Dr. Giovanni holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and did postdoctoral training in the NIH laboratory of Nobel Prize Laureate, Dr. Marshall Nirenberg in molecular neuroscience. In 1988 she moved to the National Eye Institute as Director of Retinal Processes and then Chief, Retinal Diseases Branch, leading efforts in Ocular Genomics. In 2000 she was appointed as the Director, Office of Genomics and Advanced Technologies (OGAT) at the National institute of Allergy and infectious Diseases (NIAID) at NIH. She also served as NIAID's Associate Director for Genomics and Bioinformatics and in 2016 served as the NIAID's Acting Director for the Office of Data Science and Emerging Technologies. In her leadership role in global health and emerging technologies at NIAID and extensive experience in developing and managing innovative large-scale consortiums at NIAID and NIH policies related to data sharing and access, Dr. Giovanni has served on many NIH, HHS, and other USG agency groups and non-profit organizations, industry and global health organizations. Dr. Giovanni now serves as Senior Consultant in Office of Cyber Infrastructure and Computational Biology, NIAID, NIH and is program manager for NIAID African Centers of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Data-Intensive Science