Rigor, Reproducibility and Responsibility: ELSI Questions in Population Data Practices

As large-scale genomic data sets are increasingly linked, harmonized, and repurposed across studies, questions about how to meaningfully define and compare population descriptors have taken on renewed urgency. This panel brings together members of recent National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committees and a leading medical journal editor that have offered guidance surrounding the use of population labels in biomedical research. Panelists will explore the scientific and ethical implications of existing classification practices, the challenges of ensuring analytic rigor across studies that use heterogeneous descriptors, and the responsibilities of researchers, funders, and journals in advancing transparent, reproducible, and scientifically rigorous practices.