Mardis was born in
North Platte, Nebraska. She gained a passion for science at an early age, and credits her father, a chemistry professor for more than 30 years, for nurturing this passion. She received her undergraduate degree in Zoology from the
University of Oklahoma in 1984. and was instrumental in establishing the utility of massively parallel sequencing technologies for understanding cancer biology.
breast cancer,
glioblastoma, and
lung adenocarcinoma. By better defining the landscape of germline and somatic alterations, this research helps drive new strategies for treating cancer, and is central to the concept of
precision medicine. Since joining Nationwide Children's Hospital in 2016, Mardis research has incorporated next-generation sequencing assays and established knowledge about cancer genomics into clinical and therapeutic decision-making, and into the design of new approaches to
cancer immunotherapy. In 2015, Mardis helped launch an open access, precision medicine journal,
Molecular Case Studies, in conjunction with
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. She currently serves as Editor-in-Chief. In 2020 she was Deputy Editor-in-Chief of
Disease Models & Mechanisms journal, with
Elizabeth Patton the Editor-in-Chief. She has co-authored more than 250 articles in many prestigious publications, such as
Cell, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Blood and
Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Mardis was elected as president of the
American Association for Cancer Research for 2019–2020. ==Awards and honors==