Monday, April 28, 2025
4/28/2025
Training Grant in Genetics - Project Summary/Abstract 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 future academic leaders of this discipline. The requested number of trainees per year is eight, and these individuals comprise physicians and Ph.D.s undertaking medical genetics research. Physicians will join the training program largely with experience in a variety of medical specialties, having done residency training in a relevant discipline or enrolled in ACGME combined residency programs with medical genetics and genomics (MGG). Ph.D.s may be appointed after completing training in ACGME MGG laboratory specialties or training in laboratories pursuing foundational research in human genetics. The ACGME programs may lead to ABMGG board certification. 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 major drivers of medical research and are leading to advances in diagnosis and treatment of both rare and common disorders. Implementation of the many advances in genetics requires a well-educated, diverse and talented workforce of genetics professionals. This Training Grant in Genetics has made possible training of 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 notably including the Broad Institute. 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 five 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 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Broad Institute. Since the last renewal of this training grant, an ever enlarging 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 in HMSGTP, accredited by the ACGME in Clinical Genetics and subspecialties of Medical Biochemical Genetics and Molecular Genetic Pathology and combined training with Clinical Genetics leading to dual board certification (Internal Medicine/MGG, Pediatrics/MGG, Maternal-Fetal Medicine/MGG, with an application underway for training in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility/MGG), Clinical Biochemical Genetics and Laboratory Genetics and Genomics, providing the opportunity for trainees to become active candidates for certification in a discipline(s) of medical genetics in addition to receiving research training for two to three years.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).