About the department
The Department of Medical Genetics is Norway’s largest medical genetics department with over 200 employees. The department is responsible for diagnostics of rare and inherited diseases, and the main activities are clinical genetic testing, genetic counselling including assistance in connection with prenatal diagnosis, genetic laboratory diagnostics, and genetic research and teaching. The department also runs a national research infrastructure for high-throughput DNA sequencing at the Norwegian Consortium for Sequencing and Personalized Medicine (www.norseq.org).
The research section is run in collaboration with Institute of Clinical Medicine at the University of Oslo. Several research groups are working in various fields of medical genetics, including breast cancer, the genetics of autoimmune, neurological, cardiovascular and psychiatric disorders, epigenetics causes of disease, as well as groups focusing on bioinformatics and system evolution.
By harnessing state of the art sequencing technology our department aims to develop a platform that will take diagnosis and treatment to the next level by providing personalized medicine for the Norwegian population.
Research at Medical Genetics
Strategy
The main goal for the research at Department of Medical Genetics is to provide novel insights that both short term and long term improve diagnostics and treatment of patients with hereditary diseases (monogenic and complex/polygenic). To achieve this goal a key part of our strategy has been to stay on top of the unprecedented rapid changes in genetics and genomics driven by novel disruptive technologies within areas such as DNA sequencing, information and communications technology (ICT)/bioinformatics/machine learning and genome editing. An important, albeit challenging, task for AMG is to stay in front when it comes to adapting these technologies to the needs of our patients.
Our strategy uses a multitude of approaches to achieve this:
- Harvest synergies between research and diagnostics locally, nationally and internationally.
- Foster a transdisciplinary culture of change and adaptability.
- Secure cutting-edge competencies within relevant technologies.
- Identify patient groups and clinical needs to direct our research to.
- Educate medical students in medical genetics (different modules), physicians in training, specialising in medical genetics, MSc, PhDs and postdocs.
- Maintain working environment with constant learning, development and fun at work.
- Reflect the diversity of cultures and social conditions, race, ethnicity, gender, age, etc.
To achieve these goals, we have been constantly seeking the best constellations, nationally and internationally, within each disease area, and secured active participation in Centers of excellence (SFFs), K.G. Jebsen centers, EU and NIH projects. Lectures and practical lab-courses are given and trainees at all levels are trained in our premises. Through these we have attempted to recruit the best experts at each level, who in turn have been successful in generating funding for their research This is a steady direction, which we will follow also in the years to come and in the new context of the Life Science Building.
Strategic plan for Section of research and development, Medical genetics (AMG), FoU 2023-2025
Research groups & organization
Scientific quality (publication list)
Relevance to the institution - “We in the Archipelago”