Speaker Profile
Sc.D., Retired, Retired, NYSDOH
Biography
Michele Caggana received her doctorate from the Harvard School of Public Health and completed a clinical molecular genetics fellowship at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. She was boarded by the American Board of Medical Genetics, 1996-2025. Dr. Caggana retired from Wadsworth Center in 2025. She was the Deputy Director, Division of Genetics, Chief of the Laboratory of Human Genetics, and Director of the Newborn Screening (NBS) Program. She continues to work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL). She is a member/past Chair of APHL’s NBS Committee and the Molecular Subcommittee. Dr. Caggana served on the federal Advisory Committee for Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children until its dissolution in 4/2025. She served on the National Advisory Child Health and Human Development Council. Dr. Caggana was funded by the NICHD, CDC, APHL and HRSA. Her career-long effort focused on molecular and genomic NBS.
Session Abstract – PMWC 2027 Silicon Valley
Track Chair:
Wendy Chung, Boston Children's / Harvard
PMWC Award Ceremony
• Wendy Chung, Boston Children's / Harvard (Pioneer)
• Eric Lander, Broad Institute (Pioneer)
Featured Speakers
• Wendy Chung, Boston Children's / Harvard
• Eric Lander, Broad Institute
• Zhanzhi (Mike) Hu, Project GUARDIAN / Columbia
• Tippi MacKenzie, UCSF
• Ryan Taft, Genetic Alliance
• Heidi Cope, RTI International
• Michele Caggana, NY State DOH Wadsworth Center
• Elad Ziv, UCSF
• Scott Grosse, University of Minnesota
• Mike Talkowski, Mass General / Harvard
• F. Sessions Cole, WashU
• Lee Hood, Phenome Health / ISB
• Trey Ideker, UC San Diego
• Ralph Snyderman, Duke
• Craig Mundie, Mundie & Associates
• George Church, Harvard
Beyond the Exome: Solving Undiagnosed Disease
The next layer of rare-disease diagnosis beyond standard sequencing.
Population Genomic Screening
From newborn sequencing to implementation, evidence, economics, and equity.
Structural Variants & Long Reads
Solving cases missed by conventional sequencing.
Launching the Human Phenome Initiative
From genome to phenome as a global health infrastructure challenge.
Data-Driven Health
AI, longitudinal data, and personalized clinical medicine.
Engineering the Future of Health
Genomes, cells, and engineering biology as precision medicine moves upstream.
PMWC Hall of Impact
Previous Speakers Include
Nobel laureates, technology founders, regulators, CEOs and scientific pioneers who have taken the PMWC stage.
