Graduate Program in Genetics and Genomics
Akshaya Ramesh (GPGG’19) talks about her work with the Hariri Institute, which involves mapping the genome of the rhesus macaque, a monkey which shares 93% of its DNA with humans.
Program Overview
The scientific advances that led to the sequencing of the human genome underscored the necessity to combine the scholarly approaches derived from classical fields, such as, genetics with rapidly developing fields in the area of genomics. The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) have identified a need to develop institutional training programs in the scientific disciplines at the interface of biological and genomic sciences. The ultimate objective of these efforts is to train scientists to take full advantage of the publicly available genomic data to make rapid and ingenious advances in biomedical research.
The Graduate Program in Genetics and Genomics aims to bring scientists with expertise in genetic methods, molecular problems, and computational approaches together in an atmosphere of intellectual endeavor. The program is designed to catalyze collaborations among faculty members with seemingly disparate research interests and allows students to take part in this multidisciplinary discovery. These compound approaches will be standard methodology in the future, and it is our goal to train our students to utilize these methods to think broadly about scientific problems. We will teach our students to apply the approaches of hypothesis-generating genomics and hypothesis-testing genetics to investigations of the heritable basis of numerous biological traits, the relationships among genes, the regulation of their expression, and the molecular basis of genetic diseases.
We are pleased to announce that, as of September 1, 2012, the Graduate Program in Genetics and Genomics is participating in the Program in Biomedical Sciences (PiBS).
This program offers training towards the PhD degree by integrating the foundations of interdisciplinary biomedical research with focused investigation and preparation for career advancement. Bringing these combined approaches to the practice of modern science and medicine will have an enormous impact on shaping the development of new fields.
We encourage you to use this web site to further explore the details of our Graduate Program in Genetics and Genomics. If you should have additional questions, please feel free to contact:
Shoumita Dasgupta
Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Medicine, Genetics Program
715 Albany Street, E-628
Boston, MA 02118
