elcome to the Department of Human Genetics at Emory University School of Medicine. We are a relatively new department that is undergoing unprecedented growth. Beginning with an exceptional strong core faculty of five in 2001, we have now grown to a faculty of 23. This growth has been largely through the recruitment of outstanding faculty from outside Emory and the merger of the clinical Division of Medical Genetics from the Department of Pediatrics to Human Genetics. The Division provides adult and pediatric consultation and management of genetic disease throughout metropolitan Atlanta and much of the state. It operates three state-of-the-art diagnostic laboratories dealing with cytogenetics, metabolic diseases and molecular diagnostics. In addition, the department is fully accredited by the American College of Graduate Medical Education for genetic residencies and by the American Board of Medical Genetics for all primary and subspecialty training in genetics.

Our goal is to become one of the top ten departments in human and mammalian genetics in the country. How are we going to do this? First, we have a spectacular group of current faculty and plan upon hiring approximately nine additional faculty. Our faculty have vigorous and well-funded research programs in a number of areas of contemporary human genetics. In addition, the department has the largest NIH-funded programs in both Down syndrome and fragile X syndrome research in the country. Second, we have outstanding state-of-the-art research space in the $82 million, 325,000 square foot Joseph B. Whitehead Biomedical Research Building, which opened in November of 2001. The building’s expansive multi-investigator laboratories facilitate interactive and collaborative research. Third, through the wisdom and support of our administration, we have the resources not only to recruit the best faculty but also to develop an infrastructure that will expand human genetic investigation throughout the medical school and health science center. This includes the Center for Medical Genomics with advanced robotics for high-throughput DNA extraction and genotyping. The Center also acts as the conduit for Emory’s strategic alliance with DeCode Genetics in Iceland to unravel the genetic causes of common disease. Finally the department currently houses the editorial offices of The American Journal of Human Genetics, the oldest and most respected journal in the field.

All of this in a terrific research environment in one of the fastest growing cities in the US. Atlanta has terrific four-season climate with moderate winters. Our beautiful suburban campus is surrounded by outstanding institutions, like the National Centers for Disease Control, located immediately adjacent to Emory, and the national headquarters for the American Cancer Society, directly across the street. The Department plans to greatly expand our collaborative ties with these institutions.

Last but not least, we enjoy one of the most collaborative research environments anywhere. The faculty, postdocs, and students on campus are a remarkably interactive group, allowing a high degree of interdisciplinary research to occur. I invite you to look over our web site and see for yourself.

—Stephen T. Warren, Ph. D., Chairman