Dana Benson
Baylor College of Medicine
(713) 798-4710
Baylor College of Medicine is one of six U.S. institutions to receive a grant through the National Human Genome Research Institute’s Clinical Sequencing Evidence-Generating Research Consortium, or CSER2. The four-year grant, including $2.8 million for fiscal year 2017, co-funded by the National Cancer Institute, will support Baylor’s new KidsCanSeq program that will compare the results of large-scale genomic testing, such as whole exome sequencing, to targeted clinical tests in childhood cancer patients at five sites across the state that serve a highly diverse patient population, including Texas Children’s Cancer Center.
This study includes a comprehensive set of genomic tests that will be performed by a unique collaboration between multiple diagnostic facilities with the involvement of Dr. Richard Gibbs, director of the Human Genome Sequencing Center, Drs. Christine Eng and Shashikant Kulkarni, professors of molecular and human genetics, all of Baylor, and Dr. Angshumoy Roy, assistant professor of pathology & immunology at Baylor and Texas Children’s Hospital.
KidsCanSeq follows the Baylor Advancing Sequencing in Childhood Cancer Care (BASIC3) study at Baylor and Texas Children’s Cancer Center, which developed the initial protocols for performing clinical genomic testing of pediatric cancer patients, reporting results and communicating those results to families and oncologists. BASIC3 was part of the NHGRI Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research program, a precursor to CSER2.