Dr. Colin Fletcher joined the Extramural Research Program in 2001, and is principally responsible for supervising The Knockout Mouse Project (KOMP). The goal of the KOMP program, expected to be achieved late in 2011, is the production of 8,500 knockouts of mouse genes, in the form of embryonic stem (ES) cells. He is now working to implement The Knockout Mouse Phenotyping Project (KOMP2). The goal of this program is to covert the 8,500 ES cell lines into live mice and then perform broad phenotyping on these strains. Both of these multi-component projects are trans-NIH initiatives that are funded by multiple Institutes.

Prior to joining the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), Dr. Fletcher was a Principal Investigator at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation in San Diego, where he oversaw the design and implementation of a large-scale mouse ENU mutagenesis screen. He has been working in the field of mouse genetics since 1989.

Dr. Fletcher received an A.B. in Biochemistry from Dartmouth College, and a Ph.D. from the Rockefeller Institute.