The Center for Human Genetics, under the umbrella Institute for Genome, Science and Policy since its inception in 1998, will no longer be administratively associated with the IGSP, officials said.
After two months of discussions at the end of 2003, Dean of the School of Medicine Sandy Williams recently decided it would be best for CHG to function as an independent entity.
Already in existence for well over a decade before the University ever considered the strategic initiative on genomics, CHG has grown into a "huge mega-center" that had developed an administrative infrastructure largely independent of IGSP, explained CHG Director Dr. Margaret Pericak-Vance.
"The Center for Human Genetics has been here since 1977," Pericak-Vance said. "That was before the concept of the IGSP was developed. And once the concept was developed, it made sense to put the center as part of IGSP.... But we'd been operating independently in terms of administration by the time that IGSP was formalized and [Director of the IGSP Dr. Huntington Willard] came here and was established."
Pericak-Vance noted that in spite of the official split from IGSP, the only real change resulting from the decision is that she will no longer report to Willard. All CHG-IGSP scientific collaborations and common goals, however, will continue to proceed as they have been, she said.
"In terms of the research and the collaboration with IGSP, it's seamless," Pericak-Vance said. "[But] reporting to [both Willard and Williams] was redundant. We grew faster and more rapidly. We were more successful--which is great for Duke--than we had anticipated."
Willard agreed with Pericak-Vance, acknowledging the maturity and independence of CHG while emphasizing his hope for continued collaboration on projects.
"Intellectually, [CHG] is still a large part of what we do. But the important thing is how to get the best productivity out of them," Willard said. "They are a very-smoothly-running, highly-productive operation that has a large staff already working productively with a mission and style to go out and find genes.
"The vision of what we're trying to do with IGSP is to be highly interactive and intertwined, with all centers being equally codependent; neither one of those centers can be as good without the other," he continued. "But CHG is already working like a machine and it's hard to tell them to stop what they're doing and work together." Pericak-Vance added that CHG's split from IGSP will allow Willard to focus his efforts on developing the centers still under IGSP, which are fledgling in their infrastructure.
"I think this benefits Duke, because we're able to pull out more research things. [Willard] and I are absolutely focusing on how not to duplicate, but rather complement our expertise in genomics," said Pericak-Vance, who will still meet with Willard to discuss collaborative projects on a monthly basis. "His focus is on trying to bring into Duke programs and ideas that weren't there before--different types of expertise. For example, he's heavily promoting bioinformatics and genome technology, which are all new programs and initiatives. It takes a lot of your time and effort [to build a center] and [Willard] has a lot to do with building his centers."
Dr. Robert Cook-Deegan, director of the center for genome ethics, law and policy--one of the five centers currently under IGSP--also said the split will have no consequence on his center's efforts to collaborate on projects with CHG.
"I can say quite truthfully that our center has been little affected by the change, either positively or negatively," Cook-Deegan wrote in an e-mail. "I really hope, and fully expect, that we will continue to work with the many talented people at CHG... and strengthen ties with CHG, while also being part of IGSP's efforts to enhance translation of genome science into goods and services that improve and extend human life through genomics. I'm sure the change must mean something to someone somewhere."
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