Natalia Gomez-Ospina, MD, PhD is the Recipient of the 2024 Dr. Michael S. Watson Genetic and Genomic Medicine Innovation Award from the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine

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American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics

Mar 13, 2024, 08:15 ET

BETHESDA, Md., March 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Natalia Gomez-Ospina, MD, PhD is the recipient of the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine's 2024 Dr. Michael S. Watson Genetic and Genomic Medicine Innovation Award—the "Watson Award"—named for the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics first and longstanding executive director, Michael S. Watson, MS, PhD, FACMG.

"I am honored to receive this award in recognition of my dedication to advancing genetic and genomic medicine and my commitment to making a positive difference in the lives of patients with genetic diseases. This award affirms the need for innovative approaches to treat such diseases and the immense potential that genome editing has in this regard. This award also motivates me to push boundaries and share these innovations with a broader audience in order to inspire others to contribute to advancing therapeutic genome editing," Dr. Gomez-Ospina said.

Dr. Gomez-Ospina is a board-certified medical geneticist and Assistant Professor at Stanford University. As a physician-scientist, she brings passion and expertise to the clinic and the laboratory to diagnose and treat genetic diseases, particularly lysosomal storage disorders. At Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, she leads the enzyme replacement service and Stanford's Program for Inherited Metabolic Disorders, where she works to advance gene and cell-based therapies for genetic diseases. One of Dr. Gomez-Ospina's main scientific contributions is commandeering the hematopoietic system to express proteins needed in other organs, including the brain. Her groundbreaking work includes an adaptable platform for treating enzyme deficiencies and pioneering a first-of-its-kind preclinical study for autologous transplantation of genome-edited cells to treat patients with Mucopolysaccharidosis type I (Hurler syndrome) and Gaucher disease. Beyond this, her platform holds tremendous promise for delivering various therapeutic proteins to the brain and other organs.

Despite her relatively young career, Dr. Gomez-Ospina has made significant contributions, with lead authorship in prestigious journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Cell, Nature Communications, and the American Journal of Medical Genetics. Her exceptional achievements have not gone unnoticed, as she has received several prestigious awards, including the Outstanding Young Investigator Award from the American Society for Cell and Gene Therapy, the Young Scientist Award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Young Investigator Award from the Western Society for Pediatric Research, and the prestigious William K. Bowes Jr. Award in Medical Genetics from Partners HealthCare Personalized Medicine.

"Dr. Gomez-Espina is a promising physician-scientist whose work is befitting the Dr. Michael Watson Genetic and Genomic Medicine Innovation Award, an award that honors an individual whose work has had a significant impact on genetic and genomic medicine. Dr Gomez-Espina's work is innovative, collaborative, and novel, recognizing several newfound genetic conditions. Her research focuses on advancing cell-based therapies for genetic disorders, investigating genome editing to engineer hematopoietic stem cells for the treatment of lysosomal storage diseases," said Nancy J. Mendelsohn, MD, FACMG, president of the ACMG Foundation.

About the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine

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 and genomics in healthcare. Established in 1992, the ACMG Foundation supports the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) mission to "translate genes into health." Through its work, the ACMG Foundation fosters charitable giving, promotes training opportunities to attract future medical geneticists and genetic counselors to the field, shares information about medical genetics and genomics, and sponsors important research. To learn more and support the ACMG Foundation mission to create "Better Health through Genetics" visit www.acmgfoundation.org.

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SOURCE American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics