Brotman Baty Institute Forms Inaugural Scientific Advisory Board

SEATTLE, Aug. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine (BBI) today announced the formation of its Scientific Advisory Board, bringing together a group of distinguished voices in genomics and precision medicine including Richard Lifton, M.D., Ph.D., President, Rockefeller University, Nancy Cox, Ph.D., Director, Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Sekar Kathiresan, MD, Director, Center for Genomic Medicine MGH/Broad Institute, Geoffrey Ginsburg, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Duke Center for Applied Genomics & Precision Medicine and George Church, Ph.D., Professor of Genetics, Harvard University.

The Scientific Advisory Board will be charged with helping BBI to shape the scientific agenda of the BBI, including laying the foundations for a human cell atlas, cataloging the consequences of all possible mutations in medically relevant genes and making transformative impacts on biomedical research to dramatically improve patient outcomes.

“We are incredibly excited to have the support of such a remarkable group,” said Dr. Jay Shendure, Scientific Director of BBI and professor of genome sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine. “With their guidance, and in coordination with our founding partners from UW Medicine, Seattle Children’s and Fred Hutch, we look forward to advancing the institute’s mission in genomics and precision medicine.”

The first set of Scientific Advisory Board members include:

Richard Lifton, M.D., Ph.D., President, Rockefeller University
A physician-scientist and graduate of Dartmouth and Stanford, Dr. Richard Lifton is known for his research on hypertension and salt intake and is a pioneer in the study of the fundamental mechanisms behind human diseases including cardiovascular disease, neoplasia, kidney disease and osteoporosis, all through the use of genetics and genomics. Dr. Lifton was named the 11^th president of the Board of Trustees of The Rockefeller University in 2016, and previously held positions with Yale University and Harvard Medical School. 

Nancy Cox, Ph.D., Director, Vanderbilt Genetics Institute
Dr. Nancy Cox leads the Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, while simultaneously serving as a professor and the Director of the Division of Genetic Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Department of Medicine. A quantitative human geneticist, Dr. Cox’s research program is focused on identifying and characterizing the genetic component of commonly occurring human diseases, with a focus on analysis of genome data on autism, breast cancer, diabetes and its complications, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, Tourette Syndrome and OCD. Dr. Cox holds degrees from Yale University and the University of Notre Dame.

Sekar Kathiresan, M.D., Director, Center for Genomic Medicine MGH/Broad Institute
Dr. Sekar Kathiresan is a physician-scientist and human geneticist, and currently serves as the Director of the Center for Genomic Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is also an Ofer and Shelly Nemirovsky MGH Research Scholar, a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Director of the Cardiovascular Disease Initiative at the Broad Institute. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Kathiresan utilizes human genetics to study the underlying causes of heart attack to ultimately improve preventive cardiac care.

Geoffrey Ginsburg, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Duke Center for Applied Genomics & Precision Medicine
Dr. Geoffrey Ginsburg holds an M.D. and Ph.D. from Boston University, and currently serves as the Director of the Duke Center for Applied Genomics & Precision Medicine. His areas of focus include the study of novel paradigms for developing and translating genomic information into medical practice, and the integration of patient-specific genetic information into practical health care. At Duke, he also serves as Professor of Pathology, Medicine, the School of Nursing and is a member of the Duke Cancer Institute.

George Church, Ph.D., Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. George Church leads Synthetic Biology at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, and is widely recognized for developing the first direct genomic sequencing method and helping to initiate the Human Genome Project in 1984 and the Personal Genome Project in 2005.  Dr. Church also currently serves as Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as Director of the U.S. Department of Energy Technology Center, and Director of the National Institutes of Health Center of Excellence in Genomic Science. Dr. Church holds degrees from Duke University and Harvard University.

ABOUT THE BROTMAN BATY INSTITUTE

The Brotman Baty Institute combines the research strengths and capabilities of UW Medicine, Fred Hutch and Seattle Children’s to accelerate both the basic sciences of precision medicine and the delivery of benefits to patients. For more information, visit the Brotman Baty Institute online at https://brotmanbaty.org.

Media Contact 
Emi Hashisaki, The Fearey Group for Brotman Baty Institute
BBI@feareygroup.com, (206) 343-1543 office

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SOURCE Brotman Baty Institute