Center for Genetic Medicine Research

Main Center Contacts

Andrea L. Gropman, M.D.

Interim Director, Center for Genetic Medicine Research
agropman@childrensnational.org 202-545-2744
Ljubica Caldovic, Ph.D.

Interim Associate Director, Center for Genetic Medicine Research
lcaldovic@childrensnational.org 202-545-2804
Jyoti Jaiswal, Ph.D.

Director of Academic Development, Center for Genetic Medicine Research
jkjaiswal@childrensnational.org 202-545-2799
Toni Freeland

Senior Research Center Manager
thagans-greene@childrensnational.org 202-545-2782

About the Center

The Center for Genetic Medicine Research houses a highly interdisciplinary faculty, with nearly half of the physician-scientists coming from clinical divisions in the hospital. We focus on common health problems in Washington, D.C., as well as serving as an international referral site for rare disorders. Faculty and their laboratories are encouraged to be collaborative and many of the Center’s projects bring together multiple clinical and scientific disciplines. The Center strives to provide faculty easy access to the latest technologies in genomics, microscopy, bioinformatics, pre-clinical (murine) drug trials, and multi-site clinical trial networks. The Center provides services in these technologies to laboratories throughout the District, and internationally, through a series of National Institutes of Health (NIH) Core grants. Drug development and experimental therapeutics are also a major focus.

We use data from interdisciplinary studies of molecules and pathways to create interactive physiological models of human health and disease that provide novel insights about potential strategies for disease prevention and treatment.

Mission
To understand health and disease as complex interactive processes influenced by genomics and other -omics, and to use this knowledge to precisely restore health and prevent illness in childhood and throughout the lifespan of individuals of diverse backgrounds.
Vision
To transform children’s health through genome-enabled precision medicine research, pre-clinical studies of experimental therapeutics and clinical trials.

Interferon Regulatory Factor 6

Youssef A. Kousa, MS, D.O., Ph.D., a clinical fellow in the Division of Child Neurology at Children's National, explains how mutations in interferon regulatory factor 6 ( IRF6) that cause cleft lip and palate also are implicated in neural tube defects such as spina bifida.