DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall objectives of the Johns Hopkins Postdoctoral Training Program in Medical Genetics are to recruit and educate physician-scientists who have the potential to become leaders in the field of Genetic Medicine. Our program is designed to expose trainees to all facets of modern medical genetics and genomics extending from the laboratory to the patient setting. Johns Hopkins provides leadership in the categorization and mapping of inherited traits, the application of genomic and computational methods to the identification and understanding of multiple genes and their role in human diseases, and in clinical studies, diagnosis, classification, and treatment of Mendelian disorders and multifactorial disorders with significant genetic contributions. This postdoctoral training experience emphasizes mentored research in genetics and genomics, and prepares trainees for a career in academic medicine. The McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine (IGM) oversees the clinical, educational, and research activities in human genetics of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. To meet the challenges in the rapid development of clinical genomics and the need for integration of genetics into all medicine, the IGM has taken major initiatives to expand genome research and genomic medicine, which include establishing (1) the Center for Computational Biology (2) the Baylor-Hopkins Center for Mendelian Genomics (BHCMG), and (3) the Johns Hopkins Clinical Genomics Center (CGC). These centers were built on the strength of genetics and genomics resources at Hopkins including the Online Medelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM), an encyclopedia of more than 3000 known and unexplained Mendelian disorders established by D r. Victor McKusick in 1960's , and Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR), a NIH funded national resource for genetics researchers directed by Dr. David Valle since 1996. The IGM has made a great effort in training, recruiting, and retaining physician-scientists. Currently 28 of 46 (58%) of mentors of this T32 program have MD degree. Since last renewal of this application, the IGM added 9 physician scientists to its faculty, which shows the commitment of IGM leadership and a highly supportive training environment. Together with other faculty, these new physician scientists provide excellent mentorship and great role models for our resident trainees. The IGM clinical genetics-training environment is excellent with particular strength in inborn errors of metabolism, connective tissue disorders, cardiovascular genetics disorders, skeletal dysplasia, epigenetics, neurodevelopmental disorders, and clinical genomics. IGM is the home for OMIM, an encyclopedia of >3000 known and unexplained Mendelian disorders. Johns Hopkins and affiliated training sites have >40 clinics and programs caring for adult and children with individual genetics disorders including Huntington disease clinic, Center for APKD, Ce...