UCLA Medical Genetics Training Program

Enter the text here that is the new abstract information for your application. This section must be no longer than 30 lines of text. The need to train the next generation of medical geneticists has never been more urgent. Our biggest challenge in Medicine is to handle the flood of genomic information associated with new methodologies such as next generation sequencing. These new technologies are transforming the traditional approach to medical diagnosis and functional investigations. This renewal training proposal will prepare the future generation to tackle: 1) genetic testing and technology that continues to develop rapidly, 2) clinical testing done outside of the medical genetics clinic, 3) a growing understanding of the influence of genetics on human disease, and 4) precision medicine based on genetic/genomic insights that transform the therapeutic landscape. Our UCLA Medical Genetics Post-Doctoral Training Program utilizes the outstanding faculty and facilities of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. The faculty of this program provides a wealth of research opportunities, varying from basic molecular biology, genomics, cell biology, stem cell research, biochemical genetics, cytogenetics, population genetics, to clinical genetics and dysmorphology. Our Faculty will remain organized around three thematic areas: Genomic Medicine, Phenotyping in the Genomic Era, and Treatment of Genetic Disease. Our current proposal includes 46 faculty members from 21 clinical and basic science departments. Applicants and their mentors are united by a common goal: excellent scholarship and leadership in human genetics research. We will provide our trainees with a broad knowledge of medical genetics and intensive experience in genetic research over a two-year period to prepare them to become independent investigators, with a focus on linking basic science investigation in genetics to clinical medicine and thus serve as future leaders. Major strengths of the training environment include a growing clinical genetics program, state-of-the-art diagnostic laboratories in cytogenetics and molecular genetics, including a clinical genomics center that produces exome sequencing, a wide variety of well-funded research laboratories, a longstanding training experience of faculty, and a specific postdoctoral course in medical genetics that can enrich our program and the field of medical genetics. While our program has a 33-year history of success, the changes implemented in the program are focused on the training of future leaders using the modern technologies of genomics and embraces the enormous changes that new discoveries will bring.