Charles DeLisi Collection

Charles DeLisi is the Metcalf Professor of Science and Engineering at Boston University. Prior to joining Boston University, he was Professor and Chair of Biomathematical Sciences and Professor of Molecular Biology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine (1987–1989), Director of the United States Department of Energy's Health and Environmental Research Programs (1985–1987), Section Chief at National Institutes of Health (1975–1985), and Theoretical Division Staff Scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory (1972–1975).

In 1999 he initiated the Boston University graduate program in Bioinformatics, which now includes approximately 120 students and 50 faculty from across the university.

In 1985, as Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Health and Environmental Research Programs, DeLisi and his advisors proposed, planned, and defended the Human Genome Project before the White House Office of Management and Budget, and Congress. Despite a storm of controversy, it was included in President Ronald Reagan’s FY 1987 budget submission to Congress. It passed both the House and the Senate, the latter with the essential support of Senator Pete Domenici (R, NM).

DeLisi is recipient of numerous awards including the Presidential Citizens Medal, awarded to him by President Clinton for his seminal role in initiating the Human Genome Project.

The Human Genome Project was launched in 1986 by Charles DeLisi, who was then Director of the US Department of Energy's Health and Environmental Research Programs. He was later awarded the Citizen's medal by President Clinton for his seminal role in the Project. The goals and general strategy of the Project were outlined in a two-page memo to the Assistant Secretary in April 1986, which helped garner support from the DOE, the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the United States Congress, especially Senator Pete Domenici. A series of Scientific Advisory meetings, and complex negotiations with senior Federal officials resulted in a line item for the Project in the 1987 Presidential budget submission to the Congress. Initiation of the Project was the culmination of several years of work supported by the US Department of Energy, in particular a feasibility workshop in 1986 and a subsequent detailed description of the Human Genome Initiative in a report that led to the formal sanctioning of the initiative by the Department of Energy.