Mark Adams is now the scientific director at the J. Craig Venter Institute. He joins the institute from Case Western Reserve University, where he was an associate professor in the department of genetics.
Previously, Adams worked at Celera, where he led the team that sequenced the first human genome, the fruit fly genome, and the mouse and rat genomes. In 1992, Adams joined the Institute for Genomic Research, serving as DNA sequencing facility director, assistant investigator, and director of the department of eukaryotic genomes. He holds a BA in chemistry from Warren Wilson College in North Carolina and a PhD in biological chemistry from the University of Michigan.