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Research

Department of Human Genetics

Research activities are concentrated in the John ‘Hussman Institute’ for Human Genomics and the Division for Cancer Genomics and Epigenomics. The latter is a leader in basic and applied epigenetic research and closely associated with the NCI designated Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Miami. The Hussman Institute has become a powerhouse for genomic research, with a number of programs that are leading the nation, including the Alzheimer research group, rare diseases research on neurodegenerative diseases, hearing loss, scleroses, eye diseases, and much more.

Increasing the diversity of our research participants is a major focus of many of our programs. This is only fitting given our highly diverse community in South Florida, our neighbors in the Caribbean, and Latin America. For example, we are housing one of ten national enrollment consortia for the All of Us Research Program (one of the largest NIH grants the Miller School ever received) where enrolling diverse participants is a key goal.

Cells Research

Shiekhattar Lab

The Shiekhattar lab is rigorously investigating the roles of the RNA polymerase II-associated multiprotein complex, Integrator, in gene expression regulation, epigenetics, and signaling pathways, and how they are manipulated in cancer.
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Brain Scan

Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project

The goals of the ADSP are to identify new genomic variants contributing to increased risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD) and protection against developing AD; to better understand why individuals with known risk factor variants do not develop AD; and to examine these factors in multi-ethnic populations in order to identify new pathways for disease prevention.
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Female researcher

Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP)

Investigators at the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics (HIHG) have made major breakthroughs in the identification of one gene that causes HSP.
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"The Hussman Institute has become a powerhouse for genomic research, with several programs that are leading the nation, including the Alzheimer research group, rare diseases research on neurodegenerative diseases, hearing loss, scleroses, eye diseases, and much more."

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