Mayo Clinic to receive $3 million to translate recent genomic discoveries into medical tools

ROCHESTER, Minn. - The National Human Genome Research Institute is awarding more than $3 million to the Mayo Clinic as part of a multisite initiative to develop tools for individualized medicine from recent genomic discoveries.

"We will develop genetic risk scores for heart attack and adverse drug reactions as well as tools to communicate genomic risk to both patients and care providers," Iftikhar Kullo, MD, Mayo Clinic cardiologist and co-principal investigator on the 4-year grant, said. "The goal is to accelerate the translation of recent advances in genetics and pharmacogenetics to the clinical practice, leveraging the electronic medical record."

Part of the second phase of the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics Network, or eMERGE, the Mayo Clinic's award is one of seven totaling $25 million. The first phase of eMERGE ended earlier this year and resulted in the identification of genetic variants associated with dementia, cataracts, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, red blood cell traits, type 2 diabetes and cardiac conduction defects.

The goal of phase 2 is to identify genetic variants connected with 21 more diseases and traits through studies across the eMERGE network. Each study will analyze the DNA of approximately 32,000 patients. The Mayo Clinic in particular will focus on electronically integrating recent advancements in the genetics of heart and blood vessel diseases.