Health policy Bonham has contributed to guidelines highlighting issues such as maintaining a focus on improving health, striving for global diversity, maximizing the usability of genomics for the general public, and promoting robust and consistent standards for genomic research. His ongoing work addresses the balance of scientific progress and ethical and equitable treatment of persons.
Genomics and health disparities As director of the Health Disparities Unit at NHGRI, Bonham leads a team that aims to achieve
health equity in the context of genomic medicine, where genomic knowledge, access to genomic services (testing and counseling), and unbiased implementation of genomic medicine are accessible and applied globally and fairly across all populations. He has organized and advocated for the development of improved laws surrounding the application of
genomics in a clinical setting and
precision medicine to better serve underrepresented communities. Bonham and colleagues have developed three scales in an attempt to assess the knowledge and perception of race and human variation by clinicians. These scales are: Genetic Variation Knowledge Assessment Index–GKAI, Health Professionals Beliefs about Race—HPBR, and Racial Attributes in Clinical Evaluation—RACE.
Sickle cell disease Bonham has published on the treatment, screening, and study of patients with
sickle cell disease (SCD) and is an expert on the history and emerging science regarding this condition. In his role at the NHGRI, he leads the INSIGHTS program (The Insights into Microbiome and Environmental Contributions to Sickle Cell Disease and Leg Ulcers Study), a longitudinal interdisciplinary study exploring sickle cell disease in adults that covers genomic, microbial, physical, and social influences. He sees SCD as a condition that highlights and demonstrates healthcare disparities "where the outcomes and the experiences are evidence of not getting the necessary treatments and focus historically." With Lisa E. Smilan, he wrote an article for the
North Carolina Law Review in 2019 regarding the legal and ethical considerations of somatic gene editing in sickle cell disease. Bonham and his research group are moving forward with the
World Health Organization and investigators in
Sierra Leone to study adults with SCD, to increase utilization of
newborn screening, and to address the ethical and logistical considerations of curative therapies in a developing country. Clinical trials for one of the first attempts in somatic cell
genome editing using CRISPR technology are for the treatment of
sickle cell disease. he and his colleagues have published multiple peer-reviewed studies identifying gaps in knowledge of trial participants that could prevent them from giving adequately informed consent. ==Personal life==