Wisconsin Genomics Initiative

The vision of the Wisconsin Genomics Initiative (WGI) is to be able to predict for individual patients in a clinical setting the risks of disease susceptibility and treatment response using the combined power of cutting edge genetic, phenotypic, and environmental analysis. Wisconsin Genomics Initiative fact sheet

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle announced the initiative on October 10, 2008 and has included $2 million to support the initiative in the FY 2010-11 biennial budget announced on February 17, 2009: Governor Doyle’s 2009-2011 Budget Address. The Wisconsin Genomics Initiative will be a unique scientific platform for discovery to advance personalized medicine and a resource supporting medical research in many specialties and at many institutions, nationally and internationally.

The Wisconsin Genomics Initiative combines the resources of Wisconsin’s three major academic medical centers and its major urban state university to advance predictive medicine and Personalized Health Care: WGI briefing. This is the first time in Wisconsin history that these institutions – Marshfield Clinic, the Medical College of Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee – have collaborated on a project of this size and scope. Governor Doyle's WGI speech.

Marshfield Clinic has an enrolled research cohort through its Personalized Medicine Research Project lof 20,000 adults from a defined geographic area who have donated DNA, plasma, and serum; authorized retrospective and prospective access to their medical records; and provided family and environmental information. Ninety-nine percent have agreed to be re-contacted for additional information and studies.

Marshfield Clinic has one of the nation's oldest and most sophisticated Electronic Health Records (EHR) and is a leader in electronic phenotyping for medical research: Biomedical Informatics Research Center The Medical College of Wisconsin is a national leader in medical genetics research and has high through-put genetic analysis capabilities (www.mcw.edu/hmgc.htm). The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health is a national leader in statistical and computational analysis of health data and has super-computer capabilities (www.med.wisc.edu/research). The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has extensive expertise in urban and community heath (www.uwm.edu).

Personalized medicine will revolutionize health care: DHHS report on personalized health care. It will significantly enhance the ability of physicians to make accurate predictions of disease risk based on a patient's genetic make-up and treat them preventatively. It will also significantly increase the effectiveness of medications and other treatments and lead to significant cost savings in the delivery of health care.

The WGI's senior decision body is its Executive Committee, which is comprised of a senior research leader from each of the four member institutions and, as a non-voting member, the WGI Executive Director.

Humberto Vidaillet, MD, Marshfield Clinic Director of Medical Research and Director of the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation (MCRF)
Howard Jacob, PhD, Director of the Human and Molecular Genetics Center, Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW)
Paul DeLuca, PhD, Vice Dean and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UWSMPH)
Mark Harris, PhD, Associate Dean for Research, Graduate School, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee (UW-M)
Steve Wesbrook, PhD, Deputy Director of MCRF (non-voting member)

The Scientific Leadership Committee is WGI’s lead scientific body and consists of Executive Committee members, Directors of Operational Cores, WGI Lead Scientists, and PIs of major individual studies. For a complete listing see WGI Scientific Leadership Committee.

Operational Core Directors:

PMRP Core, Catherine McCarty, PhD, MPH, PI for PMRP and Interim Director, Center for Human Genetics, MCRF
Genetic and Genomic Analysis Core, Ulrich Broeckel, MD, Director, Individualized Medicine Institute, MCW
Integrated Data Repository and Collaborative Portal Core, Justin Starren, MD, PhD, Director, Biomedical Informatics Research Center, MCRF
Phenotyping Core, Peggy Peissig, MBA, Deputy Director, Biomedical Informatics Research Center, MCRF
Statistical and Computational Analysis Core, Dave DeMetz, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, UWSMPH

Lead Scientists:

Computational Analysis, David Page, PhD, Professor, Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, UWSMPH
Biostatistics, Christina Kendziorski, PhD, Biostatistician, Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, UWSMPH
Genetics, Howard Jacob, PhD, Director, Human and Molecular Genetics Center, MCW (also an Executive Committee member)
Clinical and Translational Science, Marc Drezner, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research, UWSMPH
Urban Health, Sally P. Lundeen, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor and Dean, College of Nursing, UW-M

Phase I (years 1 and 2) Individual Study PIs:

Lipid Therapy, Russell Wilke, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Pharmacology, and Toxicology, MCW
CAD/MI, Ulrich Broeckel, MD, Director, Individualized Medicine Institute, MCW (also a Core Director)
Sleep Apnea, Jaime Boero, MD, Director, Sleep Laboratory, Marshfield Clinic
Atrial Fibrillation and Flutter, Humberto Vidaillet, MD, Marshfield Clinic Director of Medical Research and Director, MCRF (also an Executive Committee member)