Mentoring Investigators on the Clinical Translation of Cardiometabolic Genetic Discoveries

ABSTRACT We have entered a new era in which the explosion of genomic and biological information across multiple developmental and metabolic states is poised to transform the practice of medicine. The clinician’s ability to absorb, assimilate and translate this information will determine the extent of its impact on public health. There is an urgent need to train clinical and non-clinical scientists who are competent on big biological data, and who can curate, disseminate and implement the clinically actionable findings that emerge from ongoing efforts. The PI on this application has dedicated himself to advance genomic and metabolomic discoveries in type 2 diabetes and related metabolic traits, and during the first funding cycle of this award generated resources and established a training pipeline at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Broad Institute. He now seeks to continue attracting and mentoring a cadre of highly trained investigators who will be enabled and empowered to lead the application of genomic and systems-wide approaches to the clinical setting. To achieve this goal, he will 1) expand the infrastructure of pertinent genomic and physiologic datasets available for mining, 2) maintain a rigorous yet nurturing training pipeline of carefully selected mentees, and 3) guide the investigation of clinically relevant hypotheses that can be tested in the ideal environment. Dr. Florez is embedded in a successful and productive milieu that embraces a culture of collaboration. As the Chief of the Endocrine Division and member of the Center for Genomic Medicine at the MGH and an Institute Member at the Broad Institute, he is placed in a unique position that will enable him and his trainees to benefit from direct access to an unparalleled suite of training resources and datasets germane to the proposed patient-oriented research in cardiometabolic disease.