Our overall Departmental Mission is to pursue cutting-edge research, provide state-of-the-art clinical care, and to train the next generation of scientists, clinicians and educators in all aspects of contemporary in genetics and genomics. The Department is a bridge department between the School of Medicine and University Hospitals, consisting of both basic and clinical genetics/genomics. Additionally, our Department includes faculty from the Biology Department of CWRU and the Genomic Medicine Institute of the Cleveland Clinic, providing an opportunity for city-wide integration of genetics and genomics initiatives. We house a number of core facilities used throughout the SOM, campus and affiliated hospitals. We provide educational opportunities and training for high school, undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postdoctoral research and clinical training. As such, we are poised to translate human genetic discoveries obtained from basic science inquiry into clinical practice and to play a leadership role to bring to fruition this era of "precision medicine."
1. Research.
The Department is the 8th ranked Genetics Department in the country, based on NIH funding ($19,763,340, Blue Ridge, 2017). We have an outstanding group of 29 primary and 33 secondary faculty with particular strengths in:
- Genetics/genomics and whole genome analysis
- Neurogenetics; cancer genetics; epigenetics
- Model organisms for the study of human genetic diseases
- Small molecule and drug development
- Stem cells, including induced pluripotent stem cells
- Home of the Cystic Fibrosis Research Center and the Research Institute for Children's Health
2. Core Facilities.
A number of core facilities that support critical needs of the entire institution are centered in the Department, including:
- Genomics Core, which provides comprehensive DNA sequencing support (whole genome, whole exome, RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, single cell sequencing, etc.)
- Mouse Transgenic and Targeting
- Small Molecule and Drug Discovery Core
These cores have continued to have an increase in volume of users, and we have made major investments in additional equipment and/or staff. For example, we have continued to purchase state-of-the-art NextGen sequencing machines high throughput sequencing needs.
3. Clinical Genetics- University Hospitals.
The Center for Human Genetics provides all of the clinical genetics services for University Hospitals system-wide. We currently have 10 physicians and 8 Genetic Counselors. he Center is involved in government- (NIH, FDA) and industry-funded research and clinical trials, and we provide clinical services in: General Genetics; Metabolism; Prenatal Genetics; Cancer Genetics, as well as specialized programs in Autism, Pyruvate Metabolic Disorders, Prader-Willi syndrome
4. Training and Education.
The Department participates in the training of all levels their education. We provide year-round and summer opportunities for research and training for:
- Local high school students: between 10-20 students per year
- CWRU undergraduates: between 10-20 students per year
- MD medical genetics residents/fellows: 6-8 per year
- Masters degree in Genetic Counseling: 8 students per year, two year program
- PhD and MSTP training: 47 students in departmental labs