Gilbert S. Omenn leads the global Human Proteome Project of the Human Proteome Organization, and his current research is focused on the proteogenomics of alternative splicing in cancers, where splice isoforms are candidates for more specific biomarkers and therapeutic targets. He is also a co-founder of the Consortium for Clinical Characterization of COVID-19 by EHR, and his longer-standing interests include the genetics of susceptibility to environmental and occupational exposures.
He served as Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Michigan Health System from 1997 to 2002, and was Dean of the School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine and Environmental Health at the University of Washington from 1982 to 1997. He is a past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, a board member of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, honorary faculty of Peking Union Medical College, and affiliate faculty of the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle. He served as a White House Fellow at the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and as associate director of both the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Office of Management and Budget.
His Google Scholar profile lists 1,015 publications spanning 1960 to 2026, with 63,041 citations, an h-index of 109, and an i10-index of 453; his U-M faculty profile states 700 publications. That work includes the CARET beta-carotene and retinol lung cancer prevention trial, the plasma homocysteine cardiovascular risk assessment, the HUPO Plasma Proteome Project, ProteomeXchange, and the CPTAC proteogenomic characterizations of lung adenocarcinoma, clear cell renal cell carcinoma, and glioblastoma.
With this lab he co-conceived and co-supervised the study of nanopore read-termination signals, and he has co-authored twelve publications with the PI between 2009 and 2026 spanning proteomics, cancer biomarkers, and pharmacogenomics.
