Applications are Now Available for ACMG Foundation/Shire Laboratory Geneticist Fellowship Awards and Clinical Genetics Residency Program

BETHESDA, Md., July 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Applications are now being accepted for the ACMG Foundation/Shire Laboratory Geneticist Fellowship Awards and Clinical Genetics Residency Program. Earlier this year, Shire made a $1.65 million commitment to fund 10 one-to-two year training awards for medical geneticists over the next three years.  Applications are available online http://www.acmgfoundation.org/ACMGFound/ACMGF_Awards/Shire_Training_Award/ACMGFound/ACMGF_Awards/Shire_Training_Award.aspx?hkey=a7799636-5c04-48ba-9c09-61d0c4b79875 and will be due in early September for residency programs accredited by the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG) beginning in July 2017.

Shire's support of the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine will facilitate the funding of 10 genetic fellowships which will help to address the shortage of medical geneticists in the US. The partnership between Shire, a global biotechnology company focused on developing and delivering innovative medicines for people with rare diseases and highly specialized conditions, and the ACMG Foundation will help foster a generation of geneticists around the world who will play crucial roles in the diagnosis and care of patients with rare and common diseases.  

"We are at a transformative time in the integration of medical genetics into healthcare but we have a deficit of laboratory and clinical geneticists in the United States," said ACMG Foundation Executive Director Michael S. Watson, MS, PhD, FACMG. "A core priority, therefore, of the ACMG Foundation is supporting the education and growth of future geneticists. A critical element to growing our genetics workforce is through fellowships and residency awards and we look forward to receiving many qualified applicants for the new ACMG Foundation/Shire Laboratory Geneticist Fellowship Awards and Clinical Genetics Residency Program."

Fellowships are available in three categories: Clinical Laboratory Fellowships, Clinical Genetics Residencies and Medical Biochemical Genetics Subspecialty Fellowships.

Clinical Laboratory Fellowships are for clinical laboratory geneticists who develop and implement new tests, provide ongoing assurance of the quality of routine tests, interpret test results and communicate these results to healthcare providers. Training involves a two-year (24-month) fellowship following the completion of a PhD degree or a medical genetics residency for single specialty certification, and one extra year for each additional laboratory specialty. 

Fellowship activities focus on the development, application and interpretation of genetic and genomic laboratory tests while also learning about the administrative requirements necessary to meet national laboratory compliance standards, leading to the ability of the awardee to direct a clinical laboratory by the end of his/her training.  Awardees also design a clinical laboratory research project to be conducted over the course of the Fellowship, which may be translational in nature and applicable to advancing clinical genetic and genomic testing.  The ACMGF will provide the Awardees a platform to disseminate (via presentation and/or publication) their work at the appropriate time during or after the Fellowship.

Clinical Geneticist Residencies are available to medical students who wish to pursue a two- year medical genetics residency in addition to at least one year of initial residency training in some other Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Clinical genetics residencies are either categorical (i.e., only trained in medical genetics) or can be combined training with dual board training in pediatrics, maternal fetal medicine, or internal medicine. Clinical responsibilities of medical genetics residents include providing patient care in dysmorphology and pediatric metabolic and genetics clinics, prenatal diagnosis clinics, and adult genetic disease clinics/genomics, such as cancer risk genetics.

Medical Biochemical Genetics Subspecialty Fellowships are available to clinical geneticists who are completing or have completed their Clinical Genetics residency.  This is a one-year program that focuses on training in the diagnosis and management of patients at risk for or with metabolic genetic diseases.

About the ACMG Foundation

The ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is a community of supporters and contributors who understand the importance of medical genetics in healthcare. Established in 1992, the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine supports the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics; mission to "translate genes into health" by raising funds to attract the next generation of medical geneticists and genetic counselors, to sponsor important research, to promote information about medical genetics, and much more.

To learn more about the important mission and projects of the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine and how you too can support this great cause, please visit www.acmgfoundation.org or contact us at [email protected] or 301/718-2014.

Contact: Kathy Beal, MBA
[email protected] 
301-238-4582

SOURCE American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics

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