P.J, Brooks

Philip J. (P.J.) Brooks is the acting director of NCATS’ Division of Rare Diseases Research Innovation. Brooks represents NCATS in the NIH-wide Gene Therapy Working Group, the Regenerative Medicine Innovation Project and the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC)(link is external). He also is the working group co-coordinator for the NIH Common Fund program on Somatic Cell Genome Editing, one of the leaders of the Platform Vector Gene Therapy (PaVe-GT) pilot project and the co-chair of the Bespoke Gene Therapy Consortium(link is external).

In May 2022, Brooks was selected as the recipient of the 2022 Sonia Skarlatos Public Service Award(link is external) by the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy for consistently fostering and enhancing the field of gene and cell therapy.

Brooks received his doctorate in neurobiology from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at The Rockefeller University, he became an investigator in the NIH intramural program, where he developed an internationally recognized research program focused on two distinct areas: the molecular basis of alcohol-related cancer, and rare neurologic diseases resulting from defective DNA repair, including xeroderma pigmentosum, Cockayne syndrome and Fanconi anemia.