Name: Eric Green
New title: Chief medical officer, Illumina
Previous title: Director, the National Human Genome Research Institute
Illumina has named Eric Green as chief medical officer, providing a home to the first National Institutes of Health director to be removed from their position in President Donald Trump’s second term.
Green became director of the NIH’s National Human Genome Research Institute, or NHGRI, in 2009. In March 2025, the organization reportedly opted against renewing Green for another five-year term and removed him from the position.
At Illumina, Green will be a key scientific and medical leader. The company said Green’s expertise, knowledge and influence with partners, key opinion leaders and medical professionals will help its work to improve human health through genomics.
Green worked on the Human Genome Project early in a career that centered on the NHGRI. After two years as co-investigator in the Human Genome Center at Washington University, Green joined the newly established Intramural Research Program of the National Center for Human Genome Research in 1994. The center was later renamed the NHGRI.
As an early genomics researcher, Green’s career has paralleled Illumina’s progress. The company was founded in 1998 and became the dominant player in short-read sequencing. Yet, sales fell over the first nine months of last year. The company faces intensifying competition from companies including Roche, which is focusing on the speed of its short-read sequencer to grow revenues.
Illumina unveiled Green’s appointment alongside news of the departure of Everett Cunningham, who worked as its chief commercial officer from 2024. Cunningham has left Illumina to become the CEO of Quanterix, which sells products for detecting protein biomarkers.
