Precision Medical Research

Dr. Richard A. Gibbs

Eminent Scholar Lecture

Genetic approaches are a powerful way to explain the molecular basis of human disease and have been used for many years to try to explain both pediatric disorders and the common adult diseases that cause most mortality. In recent years we have developed spectacular new technologies that have been used to identify the genetic basis of many diseases. Until recently, most discoveries were in the more straightforward pediatric diseases, as the adult diseases have been generally more complicated and have a larger environmental component. Now we are finally making headway and finding genes in adults that contribute to common diseases. Our next step is to provide direct functional studies that will establish the actual molecular role of the new genes discovered in genetic studies. Collaborative functional studies supported by the Texas A&M Institute of Advanced Study are paving the way for this new knowledge.