The Jackson Laboratory Partners to Establish the New Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health

JAX® NOTES Issue 498, Summer 205

Maine's Governor John Baldacci recently announced the establishment of The Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health (MIHGH), a partnership among the Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems (EMHS), the University of Maine, and The Jackson Laboratory. The initial research laboratory will be located at EMHS' new facility in Brewer, Maine. The Institute's purpose will be to investigate the genetic basis of diseases common in Maine and to improve the health of Maine citizens.

The medical geneticists at the Institute will cooperate with the mouse geneticists at The Jackson Laboratory, who have derived many mouse models of human disease, to translate breakthroughs in basic genetics research into disease prevention and treatment. The MIHGH will also help found a new virtual Biomedical Sciences Graduate School, which will include the basic and clinical research institutes in Maine. Centered at the University of Maine, it will train the next generation of Ph.D. scientists, emphasizing the need to translate their basic research findings into disease prevention.

University of Maine President Robert Kennedy states that "The new Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health is an important addition to the growing list of productive collaborations already in place." Jackson Laboratory Director Rick Woychik says that such collaborations are being encouraged to "speed up the 'bench-to-bedside' delivery of new treatments." EMHS President Norm Ledwin is equally enthusiastic, stating that the "...Institute will address some of Maine's toughest problems-chronic diseases, high health care costs, and a sluggish economy."

EMHS will provide $1.7 million in start-up costs and $4.5 million for the first three years' operating costs. Additional support will come from external grants and private funds. The Institute will also;

  • collaborate with the Institute for Medical Improvement and with cancer and cardiovascular disease research programs at EMHS,
  • draw on regional resources such as the Eastern Maine Medical Center's Clinical Genetics Program and the Center for Human Genetics, Bar Harbor,
  • cooperate with the Graduate School of Biomedical Research to expand preclinical medical education within Maine,
  • work with Jackson Laboratory scientists to identify and translate basic research into patient care, and
  • identify sources of funding for the long-term growth of the Institute (from external government and foundation grants and from private funds).

Within five years, the Institute will be staffed with five clinical research scientists and a technical staff. Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows will also contribute to the work of this new alliance in downeast Maine.

For additional information on the MIHGH, read the news release.

(This story is adapted from a news release issued by The Jackson Laboratory.)