Genetics & Health Research

Overview
Genetics researchers are studying conditions such as psychiatric disorders, intellectual and behavioural disabilities, cancers, birth defects and single gene disorders. A variety of methods including animal models of human disease, new genomic technologies and innovative bioinformatics and statistical methods are employed in this work. Clinical research is a strong component of our focus, combining both clinical investigation and genomic capability in many local, national and international collaborative genetic research studies. Therapeutic interventions are also being studied through new enzyme and gene therapies of inherited disease. A particular emphasis is understanding rare conditions, for which modern genetic and genomic studies may produce breakthroughs in fundamental knowledge.

The goal of the Genetics & Health research cluster is to use the powerful tools of human genetics and genomics to improve human health and quality of life.

Through a variety of means we promote translational research and enhance collaborations among clinical genetic researchers and scientists with expertise in molecular genetics, biochemical genetics, molecular cytogenetics, genomics and other complementary areas. These enhanced interactions provide many opportunities to train graduate students and postdoctoral fellows as well as clinical fellows, residents and genetic counselling students in research that fosters the application of recent advances in genetics and genomics to improving patient care.

For more information on the Genetics & Health research cluster at CFRI, contact:

Dr. Lorne Clarke
Head, Genetics & Health

Clarke Lab
Department of Medical Genetics
Children's & Women's Health Centre of BC
C234 – 4500 Oak St.
Vancouver, BC Canada
V6H 3N1

Last updated: 07/14/10