The proposed Training Grant in Genetics is the centerpiece in efforts to provide postdoctoral research training in medical genetics in the Harvard Medical School (HMS) Genetics Training Program (HMSGTP) with an overall goal to train the future academic leaders of this discipline. The requested number of trainees per year is eight, and these individuals will join the training program largely with experience in a variety of medical specialties, having completed residency training in a relevant discipline or enrolled in combined residency programs with medical genetics. Recent advances in genetics and genomics, in particular the sequencing of the human genome, have dramatically accelerated the pace of research in this area. Genetics and genomics are currently the major drivers of medical research, and promise to lead to advances in diagnosis and treatment of both rare and common disorders. Implementation of the many advances in genetics requires a well educated and talented workforce of genetics professionals. The Training Grant in Genetics has made possible the opportunity to offer training to physicians and scientists in a wide variety of topics in medical genetics, enabling them to take advantage of the extraordinarily rich academic environment present at HMS and its affiliated institutions as well as the greater Boston scientific community. In addition, it has served to promote interactions between medical geneticists and investigators and provided a forum for increasing faculty contact with trainees in didactic sessions. Training laboratories of the HMSGTP have historically been centered now for four decades at HMS and its affiliated institutions including Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), the HMS Department of Genetics, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Boston Children's Hospital (BCH), Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and also include laboratories at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Broad Institute. Since the last renewal of this training grant, a large variety of opportunities in genomic medicine have developed to enhance the focus of training in medical and human genetics, and the program is fully integrated with the HMS American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG) training program, accredited by the ABMGG in all areas of training (Clinical Biochemical Genetics, Clinical Cytogenetics, and Clinical Molecular Genetics) and by the ACGME in all relevant areas (Clinical Genetics and the two subspecialties of Medical Biochemical Genetics and Molecular Genetic Pathology) and in all areas of combined training with medical genetics leading to dual board certification (Internal Medicine/Medical Genetics, Pediatrics/Medical Genetics, Maternal-Fetal Medicine/Medical Genetics, Neonatology/Medical Genetics), providing the opportunity for trainees to become active candidates for the certification examination in a discipline(s) of medical genetics in addition to receiving research training for two to three years.
The proposed program provides postdoctoral research training in medical genetics with an overall goal to train future academic leaders who will apply this knowledge to an understanding of human genetic disorders. Through rigorous training in the principles of genetics, trainees will exploit recent advances in genetics and genomics to discover the pathogenesis and pathobiology of inherited disease, and to use this information to improve human health. Understanding the etiology of heritable disease will lead to molecular classification, inform risk of recurrence, facilitate development of novel and more effective therapies to reduce illness and disability, and has potential to reduce costs in healthcare through stratification of patients for treatment and management based on the underlying genetic basis of their conditions.
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