Meet our expert Genetics team | News

Meet our expert Genetics team

We’re shining the light on the work of our Genetics team who play an important part in the care we offer to our women, children and families.

More than 200 of our expert colleagues, based at our Women’s Hospital, use their skills to help understand the biological make-up of patients and, crucially, uncover any conditions or diseases, including cancers, by reading genes and DNA.

They can not only use science to help find out if something may not be quite right, but also what contributing factors may be present to help with diagnosis and potential treatment.

Our service, which started in the 60s, was the brainchild of Professor John Hilton Edwards whose work gained global impact in the 1960s when he described Edward's Syndrome, the most common condition caused by having an extra chromosome, after Down’s Syndrome.

As was the case then, pushing the boundaries of science continues to drive everything our team does.

Using the most up-to-date technology and equipment our team process more than 55,000 genetic samples at our laboratories each year – and that number continues to increase.   

Made up of scientists, technical and support staff we have a number of specialist teams including Clinical Genetics, Cytogenetics, Technical Programmes, Bioinformatics, Cancer genetics and many more.

We’re also proudly home to the West Midlands Regional Genetics Service (WRGS) that provides services not only across our region but across the UK and internationally.  Working alongside colleagues within the Clinical Genetics Unit and the University of Birmingham a number of new tests used in diagnosing a number of rare conditions.

There will be lots happening in the future too after the news last year that our service was successful in tendering to become one of the country’s Genomic Laboratory Hubs, working with laboratories in Oxford and Salisbury.

One of seven regional centres providing a single national testing network we’ll be helping provide a world-class resource for the NHS that will underpin the future of its Genomic Medicine Service; building on the contribution and successes of the recent 100,000 Genome Project.

For more about our Genetics service visit their dedicated web page.

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