Research

The research interests of the Medical and Molecular Genetics faculty and genetic counselors encompass a variety of medical and educational topics in genetics.

Areas of study include computational biology, neuroscience, musculoskeletal and cancer research. The faculty’s unique expertise in neuroscience, musculoskeletal biology, renal biology, and anatomical education research provide a broad range of clinical training to fit career interests.

Areas of Focus

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Research faculty throughout IU School of Medicine’s academic departments post updates about their work to the research updates blog. Stay up-to-date about medical research in pediatrics.

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Computational Biology/Bioinformatics

Computational biologists with colleagues from Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics develop and apply cutting-edge computational approaches to analyze large-scale biomedical omics data and encourage collaborative research in neuroscience, oncology, immunology, pharmaco-sciences and basic biological sciences. Faculty are involved in diverse area of computational biology research, including population and statistical genetics, computational pharmacogenetics, translational biomedical informatics, regulatory genomics and epigenomics, alternative splicing and proteomics, system biology and network analysis, cancer bioinformatics, and computational methodology development.

Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics

Neuroscience

Faculty in the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics who are part of the Stark Neuroscience Research Institute seek to increase the understanding of neuroscience through the continued pursuit of genomic research and the rapid translation of new discoveries into improved patient care. A significant focus is on the neurobiology and molecular genetics of neurodegenerative disorders, including most prominently Alzheimer’s disease. These faculty are exploring causes of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, searching for new methods to detect the disease early and discovering the latest advances to slow and prevent the disease.

Stark Neurosciences Research Institute

Musculoskeletal

IU School of Medicine Genetics investigators studying musculoskeletal biology are interested in the molecular genetics of a wide variety of metabolic bone diseases. The experimental designs taken by genetics faculty now housed in the Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health are undertaken with regard to the long-term goal of application to human disorders and to understand basic bone cell biology. Genetic analyses involving human and animal studies as well as cutting edge in vitro and ex vivo work include approaches such as whole genome sequencing, RNASeq, CRISPR-Cas, laser microdissection, single cell analysis, and multicolor flow cytometry.

Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health

Cancer

IU School of Medicine Genetics investigators and Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center offer cutting-edge, research-based treatment options such as using patients’ own genetic makeup to identify their potential for cancer, prevent its onset, more effectively diagnose and treat the disease when it does occur, and one day, provide a cure.

Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center

Key Labs and Cores

Medical Genomics

The Center for Medical Genomics at IU School of Medicine is a state-of-the-art technology center that provides medical scientists with affordable access to high-quality high-throughput genomics services in a timely fashion.
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Bioinformatics

The Bioinformatics Core at IU School of Medicine provides data analysis, biomedical data management, graphic/web design, communitywide computational consulting and training, and computational tool accessing. The core facilitates collaborative studies that develop or apply computational biology methods.
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Cancer Bioinformatics

The Collaborative Core for Cancer Bioinformatics (C3B) is a shared facility of IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center and Purdue University Center for Cancer Research that aims to integrate and accelerate cancer discovery, drug discovery, precision medicine and training through a bioinformatics/ molecular genetics/ genomics initiative.
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