FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 14, 2019 ANN ARBOR, MI and CLAREMONT, CA
Genomenon Kicks off Genomics Educators Program with Keck Graduate Institute
Genomenon Provides Mastermind Genomic Search Engine Seats, Training Materials to KGI Genetics Graduate Students
Genomenon announced today that Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) has become the first academic partner in their new Genomics Educator Program. Genomenon is the creator of the Mastermind Genomic Search Engine, which provides insight into the published genomic research for every disease, gene, and variant found in the scientific literature.
“Schools like KGI are critical to meeting the rapidly growing demand for genetic scientists and genetic counselors, fueled by next generation DNA sequencing in patient care” said Candace Chapman, Director of Marketing for Genomenon. “We’re partnering with KGI to put our comprehensive genetic search engine into student’s hands to help them quickly and comprehensively connect patient DNA with the genomic research in the medical literature.”
Barbara Fortini, assistant professor of genetics in KGI’s School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and coordinator for the new Master of Science in Human Genetics and Genomic Data Analytics (MSGDA) program adds, “It is a meeting of the minds. Genomenon has built a search engine that makes it easier to understand variations in the human genome. KGI is interested in revolutionizing education, and is the first of its kind to educate students for evolving roles in clinical genomics and genetic counseling.”
The relationship with Genomenon gives students in KGI’s new two-year MSGDA and Master of Science in Human Genetics and Genetic Counseling (MSGC) programs access to the professional version of Mastermind until graduation.
“This will give our students familiarity with reading primary medical literature and how to use professional genomic search tools. Mastermind automatically organizes scientific research by the genetic evidence in each article. It helps the geneticist get a comprehensive view of all the medical knowledge tied to a patient’s DNA very quickly,” says Fortini.
Fortini has begun using Mastermind as a teaching tool in her Human Genomics course and notes, “The students saw the value immediately, and especially liked the publication graph that lets you click on a visual representation. If you choose a disease and a gene, a screen shows a graph plotting the articles by their publication date and number of citations.”
Genomenon is also providing KGI with Mastermind Variant Interpretation Cards—built around the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) variant interpretation framework. These flash cards help clinicians use the ACMG framework and guide students in deciding whether a specific genetic variant is disease-causing (pathogenic) or benign.
“The ACMG sets guidelines and specifies evidence you’re allowed to use in scoring a genetic variant’s pathogenicity and how much credence to give the evidence,” explains Fortini. “It’s hard to put such a complex set of guidelines into practical context that students can use. The Mastermind cards make it easy to identify each type of evidence required and how to group the evidence in a workflow to make a clinical decision.”
Genomenon plans to continue providing these educational resources not only to the current KGI students, but also to subsequent classes in the MSGC and MSGDA programs.
“Access to Mastermind will allow them to spend more time learning and less time searching,” says Chapman. “We hope these students will be enamored with Mastermind because we believe it is the best way to find information from the literature.”
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