Our Legacy
For more than half a century, since Watson and Crick first described the double helix structure of DNA, geneticists from around the world have come to the University of Utah to advance genetic science. Starting in the 1950’s, University of Utah researchers harnessed the power of Utah’s well-kept family genealogies to discover groundbreaking methods of investigating human inheritance. Twenty years later, investigators began collecting birth, death and marriage records dating back to the 1700’s, an effort that seeded the Utah Population Database.
Building on the momentum of genetic science, University of Utah scientists have since led the collaborative discovery of more than 50 disease-causing genes, were the first to sequence an entire human family, and developed Nobel-prize winning knockout mice technology.
The Formation of the Center for Genomic Medicine
In 2012, the Utah Genome Project was launched to unravel the genetic basis of human disease through genomic sequencing of Utah families. The Utah Genome Project is the foundation of the Center for Genomic Medicine, and established our current research pipeline for discovery and translation.
In 2014, the Utah Center for Genetic Discovery was founded with support from the Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) Initiative to develop software tools for genomic medicine and biological discovery.
In 2017, the Center for Genomic Medicine was formed, unifying the efforts of the previously established programs, expanding ties to the College of Pharmacy and the clinical departments in the School of Medicine, and strengthening our community’s focus on the translation of genetic discoveries to the clinic. The Center for Genomic Medicine is a governing body that integrates and focuses our key partners and collaborators on a shared mission.
In 2018, a formal partnership was launched between the Center for Genomic Medicine and ARUP Laboratories to advance our diagnostics capabilities for genomic medicine.
Together, the scientists at the Center for Genomic Medicine are continuing to make advances leading to diagnostics, preventions, and treatments that are changing the future of precision medicine. Our technologies are deployed in research and commercial settings in Utah and nationwide.
