NIH Reaches Agreement with Family of Henrietta Lacks

The Go Big Read selection from 2011-12, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, has continued to generate a lot of discussion across campus.  So today’s announcement from the National Institutes of Health is big news: 

The understanding reached with the Lacks family respects their wishes to enable scientific progress while ensuring public acknowledgement of the enormous contribution made by the late Henrietta Lacks. In addition, the understanding gives the Lacks family a seat at the table in reviewing applications for controlled access to Henrietta Lacks’ whole genome data. (NIH Press Release, August 7, 2013)

Analysis of the agreement has already appeared prominently in both The Chronicle of Higher Education and The New York Times.  Looks like it’s getting a lot of discussion in both locations, as well as from experts at UW.  So great to know that a Go Big Read book has garnered such sustained interest.  

Sarah McDaniel, Go Big Read