The New York Genome Center Awarded $40 Million To Study Common Disease

New York Genome Center Awarded $40 Million from the NIH to Use Genomic Sequencing to Explore Common Disease

NEW YORK —  The New York Genome Center (NYGC) has been awarded $40 million, over four years, from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to create a Center for Common Disease Genomics (CCDG), which will establish a collaborative large-scale genome sequencing program.

Centers for Common Disease Genomics (CCDG) will use genome sequencing to explore the genomic contributions to common diseases such as autism, heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. The CCDG Program will fund four centers tasked with studying a variety of disease architectures and designs, aiming to understand complex disease architecture.

“The National Institutes of Health hit the bull’s-eye by awarding the New York Genome Center $40 million to research the genetic links to autism,” said U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer. “This wise investment supports New York’s growing scientific and medical economy and allows the New York Genome Center to pursue scientific breakthroughs to help countless families in the future.”

“This grant will support the New York Genome Center’s position at the forefront of biotech and modern medicine and ultimately help to further its work to improve people’s lives,” said New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo. “The NYGC is a proven leader in genomic study, and I am very proud to see it playing a central role in advancing such important research.”

NYGC’s program will emphasize family-based cohorts, or study groups, containing both affected and unaffected individuals. These cohorts provide a powerful framework for genetic comparisons that will improve statistical power and likelihood of making discoveries. To date, most studies have focused on the portion of the genome that is incorporated into proteins, known as the coding regions.  Recognizing the biological importance of the entire genome, including the non-coding regions, NYGC will perform whole genome sequencing of all samples and work with collaborators to develop methods that will improve the identification of disease-relevant variants in non-coding regions. NYGC will also work to create technological innovations that lower costs and increase data quality to accelerate the pace of discovery.