Lisa J. Martin, PhD

Biography

The future of genetics and genomics demands purposeful collaborative science and its translation to improving clinical care. Dr. Martin is an internationally recognized statistical geneticist with the goal of leveraging genetic and genomic data to transform the care of children. Throughout Dr. Martin’s career, she has connected researchers and clinicians to genetics and genomics, resulting in 196 peer reviewed publications and a strong record of collaborative grant funding. A major focus of her work is understanding how genes act in context. For most conditions that she studies (such as heart defects and asthma), a single gene does not explain outcomes. Rather, genes are important in a larger context. That context may be environmental factors or other genes. Her work has identified novel gene by gene and gene by environment interactions. Importantly, by incorporating interactions, subgroups of individuals have been identified. Further, to really understand how genes relate to outcomes, it is important to measure the outcomes well. Thus, another part of Dr. Martin’s work is improving descriptions of outcomes, whether it is patient reports on how they feel or characterizing biologic changes. By refining how outcomes are measured, she expects to gain important clinical insight on how individuals have improve health outcomes. Her connection of researchers and clinicians to genetics and genomics extends beyond research as she is a highly committed teacher and mentor. She works directly with the training programs offered through the Division of Human Genetics (Master’s in Genetic Counseling, Residency and Fellowship in Medical Genetics) as well as through the Department of Molecular Genetics (PhD).