Fiscal Year 2007 - Department of Medicine - University of ...

medical residency at Duke University Hospital. In Wilson also serves on the steering committee
1982, he completed a rheumatology fellowship at of the Candidate-gene Association Resource, initi-
Brigham and Women’s Hospital and served on the ated by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Insti-
faculty of Harvard Medical School until returning to tute to capitalize on the contributions of the
UMMC in 1986.
Human Genome Project. Widely referred to as
A long-time researcher, Wilson began work- CARe, this initiative supports extensive genotyping
ing in a research laboratory in the late 1970s, when of genes selected for their likely importance in
research became his primary focus. “I soon began to heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders.
realize, and now firmly believe, that by seeing pa- A database of genotype and phenotype data
tients in clinic, I was able to
is being created that includes
help one patient at a time.
records for approximately
Through research, however, “Jim is a dynamic and highly 50,000 study participants with
the potential exists for me to
help reach the patients of all
healthcare providers,” said
respected investigator, and
demonstrates daily his un-
approximately 50,000 SNPs
from more than 2,100 selected
candidate genes. In ad-
Wilson. “That’s a huge differflagging commitment to acdition, DNA samples from
ence.”celerating
the pace of 11,000 African-American par-
The Jackson Heart scientific discovery in the ticipants are being genotyped
Study provides an Africanfield
of genetics and popula-
for approximately 1 million
American cohort of more
than 5,000 participants for
mapping. “Admixture maption
science.”
John Hall, PhD
Associate Vice Chancellor
variants, spaced evenly across
the genome, to help identify
physiologically important
ping is a powerful tool to
for Research genes. Wilson helped to de-
identify genes that affect convelop
much of the policy for
ditions such as cardiovascular disease and systemic the CARe initiative, and chairs the CARe Publica-
inflammatory diseases,” said Wilson. “As powerful tions Subcommittee and IRB/Data Release Sub-
as these techniques are, though, they would have no committee.
value without a large and well-phenotyped cohort During this past year, Wilson received
such as the Jackson Heart Study. For any contribu- UMMC’s Gold-Level Excellence in Research
tion we might be able to make, major credit goes to Award, which recognizes investigators who excel in
Herman Taylor and the others who have built this generating extramural funding. When making the
study over the past several years,” he said.
award to Wilson, John Hall, UMMC’s Associate
Commenting on Wilson’s work, Jackson Vice Chancellor for Research, said, “Jim is a dy-
Heart Study director Herman Taylor returned Wilnamic and highly respected investigator, and
son’s compliment with one of his own. “Jim’s study demonstrates daily his unflagging commitment to
is incredibly important in helping us decipher the accelerating the pace of scientific discovery in the
role of genetics in the genesis of disease and the
preservation of health,” said Taylor.
field of genetics and population science.”
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